How to Get a Great Manager
If you’re sitting at home on the couch right now, chances are you
don’t need a manager. You should be your own booking agent, publicist,
marketing exec and radio promotion person before anyone else. For one,
you’ll learn about all of the different aspects of your career and
become educated. Second, you’ll build the relationships yourself instead
of hiring a manager based upon who they “know.” Hopefully, by the time
you’ve reached the point where you are so busy that you can no longer
handle the tasks, proper management will have taken notice. After all,
if you have a lot going on, the buzz of a band finds a way of reaching
music execs.
In fact, there’s a funny saying amongst music industry people: “If you’re unsigned and great, I’ve heard of you;” meaning, if all of the pieces are put together and you’re ready for the major leagues, managers will find you, as will labels, and lawyers too.Remember: If you’re a new act, no one is waiting for your music to come out. So get all the elements right first.
Get your online presence together
Any manager worth his salt will want to see an organized online presence. That doesn’t mean a website with a few old songs and bad pictures! Managers, labels and executives alike will want to know that you are part of an active community that includes a destination website for your project or band, as well as Facebook, Twitter, a ReverbNation profile, or even a Tumblr. The website should be updated, platforms linked, and the artist active. This is the bare minimum! In today’s market, artists are getting deals with labels and managers based upon the strength of their online presence alone. You could be one of them if you “work” your social media fanbase.Know who you are
Very few managers are interested in figuring out who you are for you. Without a strong sense of identity, a sonic footprint, and a dialed-in look you are wasting time pursuing representation. Take the time to experiment and know exactly who you are, who your audience is and how you communicate with them first. A manager can help you execute but only you can determine those key points. Stepping forward without these three things intact is like a guitar player leaving his instrument at home the night of a gig. Branding is the phrase that pays and every artist needs to be in the branding business.Some artists take offense to the term “branding” and feel that it goes against their artistic ethos. Think again. As a wise manager once said, “No one wants to manage the greatest band you never heard of.” Branding is music.
Captivate a following in your hometown
A manager friend of mine once told a Artiste looking for management “Don’t call me until you can sell out the best club in your hometown!” I believe that message holds true. If you’re not popular where you are, how can you expect to be in demand anywhere else? Work on establishing yourself in your hometown and making yourself a household name at clubs, radio stations and the musical community. Bands that are making noise locally are usually the ones that get snatched up long before projects that have no local development.Master your live performance
These days, an artist with no live following looking for management is like a tree falling in the forest. With so much income reliant upon touring and merchandise sales in today’s market, most managers will want to know that you are capable of earning on the road and building a fan base every time you get out and perform. This means that if you’re a band, you are tight and know how to sell it from the stage. If you are a solo artist, you should have a band together that showcases your talents and they are prepared to perform your material at any time.I can’t tell you the number of times I was hyped on a band that I went to see and they couldn’t deliver it live. It’s a deal-killer every time.Having great songs is truly just the beginning. Without building your base and utilizing all of the tools available, you may find yourself in the unpleasant situation of waiting to be heard. So get off of that couch and know that success is in your hands. If you build it, they will come.
Why You Need a Street Team to Market Your Music
What is a street team?
A street team is a group of people who are recruited to promote
an event, product, or business. Many musicians and music entrepreneurs
build street teams to promote a show, a new CD, or a new music
business.You should have a street team and an online team. The online team can have some of the same goals as your street team: marketing and promoting your music or music business. The main difference between these teams will be the location of where their activities will take place, one team concentrating on the “physical streets”, and the online team concentrating on “virtual” streets and neighborhoods.
5 tasks you can have a street team complete for you:
1) Hand out flyers and posters about you, your music, or your music business
2) Bring friends to your shows or business. Recruit people to come to your shows.
3) Talk about your band or your business online in forums, message boards, and social media sites
4) Maintain your websites and mailing lists
5) Wear t-shirts that promote your music or business
Why you need a street team:
A street team provides musicians and music entrepreneurs with an inexpensive way to promote their music or music business.
Get more exposure: Street teams can help you get your music or your music business exposed to more people. Take advantage of the networks that your street team members belong to. Your street team members should have different backgrounds so you can utilize their social networks. Your street team members should have access to different social networks so you can expose your music or music business to many different types of people, who are within your target audience of course.
Free promotion and free help: Street teams provide free promotion. FREE! Many musicians build a street team of unpaid volunteers. This is free help and free marketing for your music or business. Some street teams are compensated with free merchandise from the musician or business owner. Providing free merchandise is an inexpensive way to get help marketing your music.
The Importance of Artist Branding
So what makes branding so significant in today’s music industry? First of all, it has become the reality of consumers. People identify themselves with brands, and look for something to relate to. Branding is the reflection of an artists’ overall message, goals, beliefs, and personality that make them unique from other artists. Whether it’s through their attire, sound, how they design their products, their live shows, etc, branding is the consistency of an overall message that is developed and reflected in everything that an artist does. Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are content based, and when an artist page is visited, the first thing that people see of that artist is no longer their music, but instead their images, latest posts, bio, which are all factors of their overall brand. So whenever an artist posts an update of the new Netflix series that they just watched, a picture of their dog, or their excitement for the red Starbucks cups, they’re unknowingly always contributing to and developing their brand.
Branding is extremely powerful emotional trigger, and in some cases, more so than the music itself. Branding allows for emotional attachment, feeling related to something, and the feeling of belonging that people seek. In today’s industry, being a fan of a certain artists no longer solely means being a fan of their music, instead, it’s about being a fan of the overall brand that the artist defines themselves by. Branding is what converts fans into superfans; people only go to extremes for an artist when they feel closely connected to the artist themselves. This is why fans of certain artists feel compelled to line up for hours, sometimes overnight, for general admission concerts or events, just so that they are able to be that much closer to the artist. In some cases, fans can feel so emotionally attached to an artist that they feel compelled to remain devoted to them even if their music isn’t always at its best. However, this concept can also work against the artist as well. If an artist does something that is damaging towards their brand, it is able to discourage some of the most devoted fans fans, even if they are still a fan of the music.
Branding is also an extremely powerful marketing tool. It’s the familiarity and consistency that is promoted through everything that an artist does in their career. From the genre of their music, to their main logos, the style of their merch, their live performances, their fonts, attire, etc, branding is a recognizable aspect that allows for identification and association. For example, Marina and the Diamonds’ main font in her logo, the paw print for Ed Sheeran, the Rectangle for the 1975, the Kiss logo, the Rolling Stones tongue, etc. Recognizable branding promotes the experience that an artist delivers, and attracts fans that are able to relate to the same messages and goals that an artists represents.
The core message that an artist develops by means of their brand should remain consistent throughout their career, however, should also evolve, age, and change with the artist to remain genuine and accurate. Someone like a Taylor Swift has maintained her brand of being an open hearted, honest and genuine artist while constantly maturing through her music, and even changing her genre. Marina and the Diamonds has also transitioned through different “eras” while clearly maturing through her music and lyrics while maintaining her core sound, beliefs, and incredible artistry that create her persona.
An artist in today’s industry is not simply selling their music, they’re selling an image, an experience, the beliefs, and messages that define them. First impressions can be extremely powerful and influential, and brands are usually the first impressions that people get of an artist in today’s industry, which is why it’s vital for them to be compelling, appealing, and an accurate representation of the messages and goals that that artist represents.
Ten Elements of Music
Music is made up of many different things called elements. They are
the building bricks of music. When you compose a piece of music you use
the elements of music to build it, just like a builder uses bricks to
build a house.
You will learn about seven elements of music.
Beat
The steady pulse of the music.
Tempo
The speed of the beat ( measured in beats per minute).
Rhythm
Patterns of sounds and silences that occur with in the beats through out a piece of music
Pitch
Simple: The high — low of a tone
or sound. Pitch is notable on a musical staff Fancy: The frequency in
which a tone vibrates ( frequency measured in hertz )
Melody
The tune of a piece of music. The most recognizable part of the song.
Harmony
Two or more tones sounding at the same time. Harmony usually complements melody and makes it interesting.
Texture
The feeling of the music. The way parts interact in a piece of music: Monophony, Homophony, Polyphony
Timbre
The quality of the sound or tone (tone color) . With timbre you are describing exactly what an instrument sounds like.
Dynamics
The volume at which music is preformed. Fortissimo ----mf---f---mp----p-Pianissimo
Form
The way a piece of music is structured or organized Ex. ABA, verse-chorus, guitar solo
7 Winning Social Media Strategies To Promote Your Music
As we all know that a musician’s life is much busier than other professionals. Like they badly engage with booking, event tours, songwriting, snapping Instagram photos, practicing ’til 11 pm or even late night, so obliviously it’s very hard to keep all things in mind and take care of the basics of social media marketing activities. Because of their busy schedule, something they just create are profiles on social media and leave it or never go back to check. And some of them don’t even have an online focus.
So it is imperative that you consider these facts before starting an actual promotion of your brand/band or yourself across all social networks. Yes, we know it that it is not going to have overnight results but if you engage regularly with a community of loyal fans, they will definitely want to support you.Here, I have come up with 7 amazing winning social media strategies to promote your music/band or yourself.
1. Define Social Media Plan And Objective
Make a Social Media Plan
- Build your brand by getting fans to recognize your band name/ yourself.
- Attract new fans by driving traffic to your social media page or own website
- Engage with your fans and encourage others to watch you for your next event, music concert.
2. Customize Your Social Profile
There are a thousand musician and band pages available on Facebook and Twitter, so no one is going to see if you have an incomplete profile information. Just adding a big bland image on your Facebook header or profile isn’t doing you any favors either. So you should really take the time to add compelling profile images, background images, bio, etc. Oh, and don’t forget to put something in the “About” section on your Facebook band page and Twitter page. Apart from this, you also need to add some third party tabs like Reverbnation or BandPage or YouTube Tab to make your profile look more attractive. These apps allow fans to listen music directly from you.3. Diversify Content Marketing Strategy For All Social Media
The task isn’t over after creating and customizing a social media profile. You need to prepare content and post the same on your profile so fans can engage and listen instead. A content strategy should be defined, do not just stick with one tactic like blasting links, videos, and nonsense about buying your album. Content can be divided in the following categories- Share albums, videos, and news about other music you enjoy or local bands you play with. Always ask others what they think.
- Share music industry related news.
- Share insights or recording scenes that reflect the personality of your band and use them to engage fans in conversation. Also allow fans to share their opinions so you can take your art to another level.
- Always promote teasers before actually launching a video or audio.
- Network with other bands/musicians in other areas to create an atmosphere for possible gig swapping and collaboration as well as cross promotion of content.
- Post some interesting pictures of your gigs, music concerts, or any successful shows.
4. Post Frequently And Consistently
The main key to stay consistent is to focus on creating great music, post content frequently and communicate directly with your audience. Don’t disappear for months at a time. Yes, you don’t necessarily have to tweet or post something on Facebook twice or thrice every day. To avoid posting the same content on different channels, you can integrate social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with each other. But the backdrop of using this is the limitation of content & text. Sometimes it’s totally cool to share your new Instagram photo on Facebook and Twitter, but make sure that you adapt the right caption that will best fit the site you’re posting it on.5. Regularly Engage With Audience And Fans
Engage with your fans
6. Don’t Auto Post Everything
There are hundreds of tools available that you can use to post a single update to multiple channels including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. — with the single push of a button. People who follow you on each social media platform always want to get a unique content in each channel. So you can do this technique occasionally but try to make an effort to give each of your social media audiences a little something different every time.7. Drive Traffic Back To Your Website
As per Moz’s survey, social media is making a great effort in search engine ranking. What’s the use if you’re getting huge traffic on social media sites? If you aren’t tracking who you reach or how you reach them or in another word we can say how we can reach fans for any campaigns. Yes, no doubt that social networking can provide huge benefits for your music career, but you have to keep in mind that you control over your fan data. Think proactively of social media as a key way to drive people to your website, where you actually have control of data. Once you have data then you keep it updated with your fans for music, upcoming shows, contact info and mailing list.Conclusion
Ultimately as a musician, you should focus on the basic fundamental things about social media. Social media is one of the best ways for word-of-mouth publicity and if you have control over that, you may be a winner.
How to Succeed in the Music Business: 7 Tips
Breaking through in the music industry has never been an easy task and the means to get yourself in a position where people know you exist has changed in many ways over the last 2 decades. The means are many and yet I believe that there is one single factor that can assist you in making a living from your musical pursuits. The fact remains that you have to be multifaceted in your approach to success as a musician and extremely hard working.
Gone are the days where a crudely recorded demo tape will be sufficient to capture the interest of an A+R man. Your competition for being signed to a label, or even people taking interest in your music has probably increased by a factor of 10. The internet is a great way to proliferate your work but you should always do so with a plan of action even if that plan does not initially succeed. Every aspect of your self promotion and music needs to be worked on harder than your competition. Mark my words, this is the only way you can make any impact via the internet as music online reaches a saturation point. It would be a very good idea to sit down and make a provisional plan as to how you will approach your music making, sound engineering and promotion, including a budget. This plan can be adjusted and revised as you proceed to ensure that it is effective and well targeted. I recommend the following aspects that need to be worked on in order to maximize your chance of success.Music Perfection
Are you constantly striving to be a better player, more inventive, creative, original or simply become perfectionist with your core musical skills? If you are not, someone somewhere is, so step to it and ensure you always put every thing you have at your creative disposal into your end results.Professional Audio Quality
When people hear your track for the first time they will be expecting a certain level of audio quality and fidelity. As a musician working at home you need to ensure that your productions are well recorded, mixed and present the musical content in the best possible way for that all important first impression. Did you get your track mastered? Why not? Mastering is possible to obtain at lower prices that ever before within the music industry. It has evolved as a procedure and now many experienced engineers will include valuable feedback on your mix to obtain even better results. Even if your music is presented as a low quality MP3, as a taster, it needs to be well mixed, arranged and capture the listeners attention the first time it is heard. A weak mix without impact will not be able to do your melodic work justice.Music Promotion
Are you up to date on the most popular online means of promoting yourself and your music ? Keep your ear to the ground as to what websites are the best for showcasing your music. There is no point spending lots of time updating a page that has very few visits. Work smarter and put the most effort into pages that get traffic. Time is valuable and it should be spent wisely where the best return can be made in: listens, exposure, and earnings.Music Website Ownership
Irrelevant of who the best third party sites are, you need your own website. This is your own personal portal that demonstrates a level of seriousness to every visitor. A third party music hosting page does not create the same impression as a website with your own URL. Here you can connect with fans and global traffic in a very personal way. Ensure you take a look at search engine optimization basics and tune your sight for your genre, your fans, key words related to your musical niche and build a search engine page position that means you will be visited more often than others. There are many online tools that can assist with optimizing your website and targeting effective key words to maximize web traffic.Be Persistent
Rome was not built in a day and it is naive to think that success can be achieved within a very short space of time. Two years is a realistic span of time when using constant means of promotion to obtain some penetration within any given market or scene. People do not identify with a brand or band name until they have seen it 3 times on separate occasions. So make sure you keep your foot on the pedal for as long as you can to try and break through into spaces where you need to be seen and noticed.Offline Promotions
Despite the obvious importance of online communications, there are many novel means of communicating that exist other than those online. Look at promotional material companies for ideas and look into sending out free promotional items featuring your band logo. This will need careful planning to ensure any promotional media gets to the right people and provides a return on investment.Pushing your Comfort Zone
Most important of all is to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Try new musical techniques, push your mixing and technical knowledge and do not be afraid to put in the extra hour or two on top of your normal work schedule. Musicians often sacrifice a lot of other things in life and dedicate themselves to the cause of musical creativity and self promotion. Sometimes it can be tough but will often manifest in bringing you the edge that sets you apart from others.If you are work shy it is going to be disheartening, if not it is going to be exciting, inspiring, challenging and rewarding. There are a lot of bands, producers and musicians seeking attention and you will have to think carefully how you can work harder and smarter than you have thus far. This is required in order to get the exposure and attention you need to take your plans to the next level. It can be done, there is no doubt about that, so re-double your effects, knuckle down and get productive. Success or failure really can be a matter of who works hardest.
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