The Manager’s Corner-October 2012
by Chris Daniels
I’ve managed my own band since the 1980s and despite the amazing change in technology, success in the music business is built around four tried and true elements: great music, really hard work and timing (often mistaken for luck). The other key element is getting the help you need to make that luck happen. These days that help is everywhere. The book I wrote for my UCD class on artist management is called “DIY: You’re Not in it Alone” and that is exactly what you need to understand.
Many young artists, whether they are EDM DJs putting out their beat tracks, or a bluegrass picker putting out her first CD, spend the majority of their time focusing on the recording and not thinking about marketing that recorded music. That is where they drop the ball. This is like spending all your time training a horse to run and then doing nothing to win the race after you get that horse into the starting gate. And that is the point, getting your recording finished is just the start. Yes, there are amazing internet stories about wonderful online successes, but you stand a better chance of winning the lottery than you do of being one of those artists. The difficult thing to get your head around is that it is not just about using the Internet as a tool. It helps you connect with fans, but you also have to use every possible channel to get your music heard. You, and your team, friends, band mates, lovers, and “super fans’ have to use all the tools available to get that recording to the largest possible audience.
The obvious one, the Internet, is incredibly important. Your Facebook and website are #1 and #2 for communicating with your existing audience, but it can also help you build up your fan base. And that does not mean check in once a month to your Facebook. It means that you work the site. Let people know about what you are doing. I’m not talking about your love life or your politics or even your “wow we rocked at the Larimer last night.” What I’m talking about is new information that link your Facebook, Twitter and website together so that an announcement or update on your recording’s availability, progress and success are all tied together. So that any videos (that are good and represent the music well) are embedded into your website, posted on Facebook, and people start sending Tweets of where they can stream a track. You want more than Facebook “likes” (as many fans as possible), you want a group of fans that love what you are doing so much that they would ‘invest’ in it – time and even money through sites like ‘kickstart.”
Other websites like SoundCloud, ReverbNation and BandCamp can make this kind of ‘service’ part of your marketing campaign – post songs for streaming and even for free downloads. These sites are especially important if you are working the blogs and Internet radio sites that might review or play your music. One of the best cyber marketers in the business is Ariel Publicity out of NYC, and she has both a cyber PR service and web seminars on how to increase your digital visibility on the Internet. Check her marketing company out at: arielpublicity.com
But this is not the “be all to end all“ solution that some folks say that it is. Depending upon your audience (age, interests, meeting places etc.) you will also need to do some very old school ‘analogue’ face-to-face marketing. That kind of marketing starts with the understanding of where you fit into the business.
The very first rule you need to figure out is where (in the old-fashioned ‘radio’ world) you fit – or do not fit in. Now, I can hear some of you under the age of 22 saying ‘Are you kidding, I never listen to radio.” Two things to know: (a) almost 50% of Americans still discover new music through the radio (b) you must be able to comprehend where you fit in that business – so you NEED to understand basic radio formats.
Where do you go, what station formats, if you are a three-piece acoustic group (say, something like the Lumineers)? The number one reason that “Ho Hey” has over seven million hits on Youtube is that it’s a great song, for a specific kind of radio format, and that format brought that song to the rest of the world. Do you know what format they broke out of? Have you heard the term Triple A? Have you heard the term Americana radio? These are the two formats that “Ho Hey” hit, and they hit it hard. Starting here in Colorado where there are about 15 stations in these formats including KBCO (the biggest), KUNC (next largest), AM 1340 KCFR, KGNU, KOTO and a whole group of stations across the state that fell in love with that tune. Except for the obvious Clear Channel owned KBCO, the others are what are called ‘non-com” meaning ‘public’ stations like KUNC in Greely who’s DJs like Wendy and Benji love playing new music.
It wasn’t the Internet story that broke that band. It was a great song and a radio format that totally fit. And this is where you have to do some research. You are a jazz band – where is your outlet? Well the natural is KUVO in Denver and a ton more that love jazz all across the country. OK, so you are a DJ writing and producing EDM tracks, then Hot 107.1 is where you need to make some friends.
Again, let me make this point as clearly as I can. If you are in a heavy metal band and you give your CD to KBPI, does that mean Uncle Nasty is going to play your track? The fact is – it is not impossible – but you will also have to understand three things on how to approach both KBPI and Uncle Nasty (a) you’ve got to have a fantastic song (b) he’s got to have the song there at the studio as a playable copy (mp3, CD) what HE wants and NEEDS – to be able to fit it in between the million great tracks he HAS to play to keep his gig (c) and you will NEED to support his efforts via his Facebook or the KBPI website.
Either avenue for promotion (all by itself), cyber or analogue marketing tends to have limited success. But if you combine the two, you have the best chance of rising above the noise of all the other artists – who are also hoping for a break and unaware of how radio formats work. Do some research BEFORE your music comes out, and PLAN for that long marketing race. It really can pay off even with long odds.
Category: Shop Talk
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