What can we do to promote our band, and maybe look into getting record company deals?
Question by Drummer forever: What can we do to promote our band, and maybe look into getting record company deals?
I am a senior in high school and in a band with a few friends. We are extremely good and want to promote ourselves. We play classic and instrumental rock with originals and covers. We already do local bar gigs. We have all decided not to go to college and pursue a career in music. So what can we do to get our name out to recording companies in the future? How does that business work anyways?
Best answer:
Answer by Marc G
Well, a good way to get yourself out there is to create an electronic press kit. I have a lot of friends who are in bands and were able to find a free on over at Lafango.com. You can post all of your videos and distribute the kit to anyone you want. I’ve heard great stories coming out of that site, you should look into it… also consider hitting up bebo, myspace, reverbnation and those other band sites.
What do you think? Answer below!
January 27th, 2012 at 6:07 am
Exploit the social networking sites (myspace facebook…etc). That is the easiest and cheapst thing to do. That way people that know who you are have a way to show other people who you are. Make friends with every single band you play with or see. Every bar owner, every concert promoter, everyone, make sure they leave with a good impression. If I’m looking to add an artist to my label and find out they are assholes, they are shit out of luck because i’m not dealing with that.
Make a demo and give it away. Free stuff always works. Cd’s, stickers, gutar picks, thirts, coffee mugs, whatever you can make that has your name and logo on it helps. The best way to get record labels familiar with you is to send them your music. Find labels that fit your style, find out how to get your music into their hands, and do it.
You may want to get into the studio to pop out a demo, or record it yourself. You can also take a feed off of the live board at your next show and make a quick album. You should be able to get a feed off of the life board for little to no price assuming that the board is capable and you have the gear to record it. Make a cd off the live board, buy a bunch of cd’s and burn them off and give them away at their show. I remember the artist that has given out free shit at every show I’ve ever seen. From small up and comers, to mainstream acts. It works.
Find any festival that you can get on. If you have a free weekend with your band, try and land a gig a few hours away to get your name further out. Set up a tour with a few other bands. It doesn’t have to be coast to coast. Maybe you guys take a week or two and play 5 or so shows. You never know, you might get an opportunity to open for some random band, and that band might just happen to have people in town scouting them. Because you have the opportunity to be there when the scouts are there, thats huge. Granted you might not get signed that day, however now that A&R rep knows your band, and may fly home and tell someone else.
Look at up and coming record labels in your area. If you live in a large area you may find another band or so with the same intentions as you, and you can start your own label, or begin a tour like that. You may find someone that has something that can help you, or you can help them. The business is about who you know. So get to know everyone, and don’t be a dick, people will remember that.
If you guys are forgoing school in order to persue this, you may have someone look into music business classes, or things like that. That will get an idea and some resources about some other things. Again this will depend on where you are located as to being able to find these types of classes.
Good luck
January 27th, 2012 at 6:14 am
First off, you don’t want to be the one calling yourself extremely good. You need other people to say this – preferably the “talking mouths” of the new music industry; the bloggers, editors, and podcasters. Make sure the information you provide about yourself is truthful and information based. Create news releases as opposed to press releases.
Once you have a professional product (a well recorded CD, press photos, bio, official website, online store, mailing list, etc) you can then reach out to the music media by contacting editor’s individually and reaching out to them on a personal level. Talk about an article they’ve written and why you enjoyed it. Remember, they take pride in what they do just like you take pride in your music.
To build your fanbase, play as often as possible and win people over. Build your mailing list and sell merchandise at your shows. Covers can be a great way to win over the crowd. However, if you’re focusing on going “big”, strong originals are a must.
Create a stong online presence with all the pieces in place. Don’t spam or rely solely on Myspace and Facebook to spread the word. Get the music press talking about you to build credibility, not to mention a huge press section on your website. Play and tour as much as possible to create buzz.
The music business works differently for different people. You can either feel you are a victim to it, or you can rewrite the rules, like so many bands have done. Do something original and get yourself heard, and you’ll do fine. The industry is always a step behind and you’ll need to create the buzz for them to notice.