It's no secret that today's musician needs to take advantage of every marketing and promotion channel available these days. This can range from old school techniques, like silk screening your own posters, to highly technical websites and social media. Different audiences have very different needs, connecting with your audience in a direct and powerful way is the most important moment in a musician's career. What does it take to break through these walls of apathy and into the busy lives of your prospective fans?
1) Music That Resonates People are not easy to fool. Simply trying to write music by guessing at what type of music will "sell" these days is a recipe for disaster. However, by paying close attention to the world we live in, what moves people in their daily lives you can learn to craft powerful songs. Many successful writers will admit that it takes many, many attempts at a good song before one emerges. Focusing your time here can be the best spent.
2) Community Music is a communal activity. Most music is performed as a group and in front of an audience. Therefore the basics of promoting your music is community based. This can range from a group of friends and into online networks. Some bands tend to focus on political messages to identify and unite their communities. Don't forget the importance of working with other artists and musicians. Remember that a musician operating completely by themselves has a very hard road ahead.
3) Performance Being a charismatic performer on stage takes many different skills than a technically amazing studio musician. Having a good mix of right and left brain abilities can help you to rise to the many challenges of becoming a professional musician. One of the major myths that I keep coming across is that people think good front men and women are born, they don't realize that it takes tons of patience, practice and trial and error to have good stage banter and put on a good show.
4) Good Sounding Recordings I love Jack White for one reason. He really confused the hell out of everyone. His recordings sound amazing and he claims to do most of it on a cheap guitar he found at a thrift store. He created a compelling story that made it look like what he was doing was easy and that anybody could do it. However, I am more inclined to believe that he spends many hours in the studio slaving over every sound on his records. Developing critical ears and making sure your records sound great will ensure they have the best chance at a strong trajectory.
5) Networks These feed your community. They can include the people who work at the clubs you play in, record store owners, even vinyl and CD manufactures. Trust me, these folks have seen some ornery, self-righteous musicians in their day. Be respectful of their time and skills. They may come off as cold at first, but with persistent level-headed interaction they can become a great asset to you.
6) Distribution What used to take 1 million dollars and pounds of cocaine now only takes 15 minutes and a laptop. With CD Baby, TuneCore, Pandora and all the other 1 million music websites out there, this is day and night from 5 years ago. But still many folks don't take the time to import their music into these channels and when they do, they are poorly tagged so that no one can find them. Take a look at the ways the pros do it and take a note there. This is well worth the time you put in.
7) Unbridled Creativity This is the one advantage that musicians have over other marketers out there. We spend hours upon hours on our songs, set lists and album artwork but totally freeze up when it comes to promoting ourselves. The internet offers a plethora of tools to set ourselves apart, please visit my site to see some examples of these.
Author Resource:-
Casey Meehan is the founder of RockProper.com, an indie rock netlabel focusing on promoting select artists. Casey is also very engaged in helping musicians survive the challenges of the new digital music industry.
For more tips on music promotion including, "The 7 Jedi Mind Tricks to Get Your Music Heard"...
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