Touring and promotion for the unsigned band

I’ve mentioned in other areas of this book that local and unsigned bands will often have to “go it alone”, without promotional help from the clubs they play at. What all this boils down to is the realization that if you are an unsigned band, you will have to become your own “one man promotion army”.

Don’t worry… the basics are easy to grasp. Even basic promotion will make a huge impact, and will cost little or nothing to do.

Ready… ok, first things first…

We start by announcing our gigs to every media outlet possible. At this stage, you just want to make a big list. Brainstorm any place that provides free entertainment listings. This will include the local newspapers, as well as the smaller monthly entertainment guides. Both usually list weekly or monthly event calendars. Nine out of ten times, it doesn’t cost you a penny to be listed in these.

Ask around and expand your list as much as possible. Many radio stations (especially college radio) do event calendars. They’ll add your listing for free, so long as you submit according to their guidelines… which brings us to the next step

Media Contact List

Contact every media outlet on their list and tell them you’re an unsigned band, and you want to be listed in their entertainment calendar. Ask them what their entry deadline is. For example, to get into the May listings, you my have to submit by April 15. Also ask what their preferred method of submission is. Make a note next to every listing.

Some editors like you to fax your listings, others prefer to get them by email so they can just cut and paste. If they give you this option, be sure to take it. It removes the possibility that their intern, working on three hours of sleep to study for exams, will misspell your band’s name, when he copies it from the fax. I’ve seen all sorts of ridiculous misspellings. When people see this, it immediately puts a label on you…

… “small unknown unsigned band”

Some editors will even take calendar listings over the phone. Avoid this if possible… not only for the above reason, but in a second, you’ll see that it’s more work in the long run.

Alright! Now you have a list of every free media outlet and their preferred method of submission, along with their deadlines. The next step is to type up your calendar for the month. If that’s only one or two shows, don’t worry… you have to start somewhere!

Once your list is typed, it’s just a matter of emailing it or faxing it to every editor. If you use email, try to use the blind CC function on your email software. We want to avoid the look of cheap mass submission.

If you’re somewhat computer inclined, use the help feature in your email software to learn how to do a mail merge (if it has one). This way, you can transfer the name and personal information for each editor from your list, without having to do it manually.

You’ll be coming back to these people soon to try and interest them in your band. Start building name recognition early in the game. The more personal you are, the better their chances of remembering your little unsigned band.

As you get new information about these people (first and last names, nicknames, etc…) add it to the list we started earlier. It’ll become a valuable resource very quickly.

Do it all over again…

As you expand into new cities, you’ll repeat the process each time. Some clubs may already be aware of all these free advertising opportunities. Asking the owner ahead of time could save you some research and legwork. On top of that it shows that you’re doing your part to promote your shows.

If the club already submits to these media outlets, it doesn’t hurt for you to double their efforts. That way, if they slack off for a week, it doesn’t affect you. Make sure you’re not irritating the editor or staff, by doubling the submissions. As long as you’re not pissing anyone off, you’re helping build name recognition with the staff of that publication.

----If you’re pissing someone off, you’re still building name recognition… just not the type you want ;-)

Now that your unsigned band has been listed in all the free resources, we’ll have to be a little bit creative to find other places to seek publicity.

Free events calendars will only take a few minutes each month to provide a pretty good payoff. Although there are other “free” methods of advertising, I will list them in the following sections because they are not really free. They all take time, and time is…

c you get the idea. Even if you have all the free time in the world, it makes sense to put your effort where the biggest payoff will be.

As an unsigned band, without professional backing, you really have your hands full. It’s time to start thinking smart and making the most of your time.

That means you have to learn some basics of marketing for the unsigned band

Secrets for bands and artists searching for their target market

If you’re an unsigned band, you have to make the most of your promotional efforts. After all, you only have so many hours a day to take care of business and still write and perform…

c time to learn the basics of band and artist marketingc donft worry, itfs not nearly as hard as it sounds :-)

Basics of band and artist marketing

The general idea here is to spend your time and effort where they will have the greatest effect. The first step in this process is to figure out who your audience is. Do you play for mostly younger crowds, older crowds, men, women, college students, etc…

Don’t assume that your music appeals equally to everyone. If you’re playing Mozart Concertos, you need to advertise mainly to older professionals, not inner city youth…

… and vice-versa if your band plays industrial death rap ;-)

I know it sounds simple, but believe me, record labels spend big money on band and artist marketing…

c and they do it for a reason!

I can boil the majority of a five year college education and a degree in mass media down to one simple idea:

gIf you market to everybody, you market to nobody”

Understand? Good, then repeat after me…

“If you market to everybody, you market to nobody”

Figure out what your target market is and then figure out how to reach those people. In other words, if you’re hanging posters to promote a show (always make sure it’s legal first) don’t hang them all over the street in the same places every other band and artist does. You’re wasting your time… why? Because…

gIf you market to everybody, you market to nobody”

Sorry, but repetition is the mother of… something… I forgot…

Anyway, instead of hanging those flyers randomly, figure out where your audience will be. For instance, if you play for an older crowd, ask local restaurants if you can hang flyers there. Tell them that a number of people that come to the restaurant go see your shows, and they would be providing a service to their customers, by advertising your shows.

If your crowd is mainly college students, the best way to reach them is… duh! College…

c but waitc many colleges wonft let you put flyers upc they make you hand them out!

Yuk! That sounds like a waste of time!

Instead, get creative and figure out where else you can find that crowd.

Is school just starting back into session?

Aha! Go to the local textbook store and ask them if they will drop flyers into people’s bags as they checkout. In return, tell them you’ll thank them a few times throughout the show. If your band does interviews on college radio, you could also offer plug them on the air.

If you pick the right bookstore, you could end up reaching half the university. If just one out of ten of those people comes to see you play, you can expect a line around the block!

This is just one example. Use a little creativity, and you can have a successful band artist marketing campaign on a shoestring budget!

Of course, once you have people coming to your shows, you have to keep them back.

The importance of public relations for musicians… artist management secrets.

Why is public relations so critical to artist management?

Well, whether you play rock, classical, or flamenco, you are a performer. As a performer, your image is one of the most powerful factors you have working for you (or against you, depending on how well you handle it).

What do I mean by your image?

Well, when you perform in front of people you don’t know personally, those people will make a decision about you based on a one to three hour performance, and maybe a two or three minute conversation.

Does this perception reflect your true personality?

Of course not!

… but people still do it anyway.

Think about how many people have a five word conversation with a celebrity, then report to the world that they were “Not stuck up at all… just a regular guy”

“Hi, Mr Gibson, how are you?” “I’m great, how are you?”

After hearing these five words, this girl will tell every person she meets for the rest of her life that she met Mel Gibson and he was “soooo cool and totally down to earth!”

Why will she do this?!

Because he said “how are you?”

…isn’t that amazing!

I know you’re sitting there nodding your head and grinning right now…

c what you should be doing is going back and re-reading the last ten lines of textc the answers to an effective word of mouth advertising campaign are all included in those lines.

People will make up their mind about you based on short encounters, so make sure it ends up being a positive memory. Thank them for coming out, ask them if they’re enjoying the show… if you play any cover music, ask them if they have any requests (even if you’re sure you won’t know it)

While your talking to them, have them sign your mailing list…

…you do have a mailing list, don’t you!

These lists used to be an expensive part of artist management, because of postage, labor, and printing. On top of that, you had to get people’s full mailing address. Most people don’t feel like stopping to do all that writing… especially after they’ve had a beer or ten!

Today, nearly everyone I know has an email address… even if they don’t have internet access (read: live in a cave). It only takes a couple of seconds for someone to give you their email address. You can even have them jot it down while you’re having a conversation, but for cryin out loud… don’t stop there!

If someone comes up to you after a set, and starts telling them how much they like your band, talk to them awhile and get to know them. When you have to get back onstage, ask them if they’ll get their friends to sign your mailing list. Hey, this is a lot of work! Why not get some of your fans to do your artist management for you?

If you announce the list during the show, try to give some incentive for people to sign it. For example raffle off a prize or something…

Be careful though, make sure there’s a way to check the results. A band I used to play with gave away a bottle of Jack Daniels one night in a similar fashion. After we went through all the effort of listed the names, almost half ended up being fake!

Here’s what you do… tell the crowd that the winner will be notified by email. You can also tell them that they’ll be disqualified if they enter more than once. “Hey, it’s only fair!”

It’s also a good idea to give away prizes at random with email notifications… just cheap stuff like T-shirts or bumper stickers. Let people know you’re giving this stuff away in their email notices. That way they’ll be sure to open their mail from you to get calendars, etc, instead of letting it get buried in a sea of email.

One more note about email. Keep it personal… like you’re talking to a friend of yours to tell them about your upcoming shows.

Use the blind CC function for lists up to a hundred names or so… when it get’s too big, use a free online mailing list… don’t leave a thousand names listed in the cc field. It’s cheesy and it invades people’s privacy. Anyone can copy that field and send those people junk, viruses, etc… be considerate.

Learn how to do a mail merge with your email software to put people’s first name in the subject and salutation lines… it’s not as hard as it sounds… just look up help for “mail merge” or ask a friend who knows about computers.

If you pay any attention at all to the 4P’s we’ve talked about in this short book, your band will be head and shoulders above all of the bands in your hometown (and probably in your region), simply because 95% of the other bands don’t even know what the 4 P’s are!

An important part of any band’s promotional activities is having an effective website. One that informs, captures emails and sells CDs and other stuff for you.

I highly recommend http://www.barrpicker.com as a resource for you to build your own website, or if you’re not really into web building, the dudes will build one for you at VERY reasonable prices.

If you pay attention to the 4 P’s, have a kick-ass website and work at both of them, you will truly be THE band in your area.

I hope you have found this little book helpful. I applaud you for going out there every weekend and playing for the crowd.

To your success,

Dennis Lively and Gene Barry

Additional Products

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