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Formulating Your Best
Music Promotion Plan
by Bob Baker
A lot of people who subscribe to my Buzz Factor e-zine,
read my books, and attend my workshops tell me that once
they shift into a brainstorming mode, the self-promotion
ideas come faster than Billy Joel behind the wheel of a
Mazarotti. My first piece of advice regarding this fantastic
state of mind is:
Buy a notebook or journal and capture these thoughts by
writing them down. Don't expect to remember everything later.
That rarely works. Grab ideas while they're hot.
If you're driving when inspiration strikes, carefully pull
over and scribble down your thoughts on a gas receipt, fast
food bag, or whatever is handy. If you're in a bar or restaurant,
use a napkin. If you're in the shower ... well, be creative
and find a way to record those great ideas.
So Many Ideas, So Little Time
Once you have a master list of earth-shattering, career-boosting
concepts, things don't get any easier. Now you probably
feel as if you have so many options, you don't know where
to start. Most music people get so flustered at this point,
they do nothing. Or they do a little bit of everything all
at once and spread themselves too thin, with nothing to
show for all their hard work.
Well, I believe in keeping things simple. Don't overwhelm
yourself. For starters, before you jump into any new grand
schemes, there are two basic things you should do every
week, if not every day, no matter what else you may be working
on:
1) Write, record and perform great music. This is no secret.
The most creative promotion ideas in the world will do nothing
to help mediocre music. So work on your music-making craft
constantly. All it takes is one killer song to light a fire
that will sustain an entire career.
2) The second thing you should do almost every day is
to take steps to connect with and attract more fans. Don't
get sidetracked with technicalities and industry connections
and stuff that doesn't matter. Keep a constant focus on
fans.
Creating Your Music Plan
Now, what about those specific big ideas you have for getting
exposure, selling CDs, etc.? Get out a calendar that covers
the next 12 months, and start writing down your best ideas
and the times of the year they would work best.
Think this through and move things around on the calendar
until you've got one or two great ideas listed for each
month. Doing this will give you a promotional roadmap so
you know the best ways to spend your time and energy every
month. Your efforts will be more focused this way and more
likely to generate results.
Don't just wing it and leave things to chance. This is
your career and livelihood at stake here. Set priorities.
Create an action plan. You can always tweak and alter the
plan as you go. But having one in the first place gives
you a starting point and a direction ... and a reason to
get busy and start promoting your music now.
So formulate a plan -- your ideal plan --
then ... get out there and promote yourself!
Bob Baker is the author of "Guerrilla Music Marketing
Handbook," "Unleash the Artist Within" and
"Branding Yourself Online." He also publishes
TheBuzzFactor.com, a web site and e-zine that deliver marketing
tips, self-promotion ideas and other empowering messages
to music people of all kinds. Get your FREE subscription
to Bob's e-zine by visiting http://TheBuzzFactor.com today.
Outrageous Music Marketing Ideas
by Bob Baker
I'm not sure exactly what triggered it,
but recently my mind started popping with creative, off-the-wall
ways to promote your music. So I jotted down some notes
and am sharing them with you in this article.
I'll let you determine whether these are
truly "outrageous" ideas. But one thing is for
sure: They certainly aren't the traditional things that
most musicians think about when they do marketing.
Ready? Here we go ...
Outrageous Music Marketing Idea #1
Turn Yourself Into a Happy Meal
I definitely advocate that indie musicians
*not* try to emulate the same tactics as the major labels.
However, there are times when you can take one of their
ideas (or an idea from a related entertainment industry)
and give it a small-scale spin.
You know how the major film studios promote
their new animated features by tying into fast food chain
kid meals, such as the McDonald's Happy Meal. Most likely,
you won't be able to land a nationwide Happy Meal deal.
But you might be able to do something cool with a local
deli or restaurant.
I know a couple of radio disc jockeys in
my town who have sandwiches or special meals named after
them at certain eateries. Why couldn't you do that? Especially
if you perform regularly at a particular coffee shop, bar
or restaurant.
For example, if your band is called Sweet
Potato Sunrise, approach a manager with the idea of offering
a Sweet Potato Sunrise omelette, or a Sweet Potato Sunrise
latte, or a Sweet Potato Sunrise daiquiri?
You get the idea. The special name would
get you exposure at the establishment whenever it's open
(hopefully, you're item will be listed on the menu). Plus,
you can use the unique promotional angle to get mentions
in the local press.
Outrageous Music Marketing Idea #2
Become an Instant Cult Classic
The success of the quirky film Napoleon
Dynamite has me thinking. The movie itself is still growing
on me, but I'm fascinated by the buzz it has among people
who really connect with it. Most of my friends who rave
about it have seen it numerous times and claim that the
more they see it, the more they appreciate and enjoy it.
What a nice position for a filmmaker to
be in. Admittedly, a lot of people don't like the movie
and its flat characters at all. But those who do appreciate
the film like it a lot -- and preach about it to their friends,
memorize lines, encourage theatres to have midnight showings,
etc.
How can you tap into that? It's hard to
manufacture cult status, but here's an idea: What if your
music CD came with an accompanying trivia game? And what
if the game tied directly into the theme, style and lyrics
of your music? The game instructions could be included in
the CD sleeve or delivered separately to everyone who bought
one. Or, to make a greater impact with the trivia game idea,
you could package the CD in a DVD case or even a small retail
box.
To make this work, you'd have to come up
with a cool, interactive game idea and have a CD filled
with interesting, funny or insightful lyrics and music.
But if you can get people examining the nuances of your
material and sharing notes with other people who are memorizing
your stuff, you might have some powerful buzz going for
you.
Check out my blog at MusicPromotionBlog.com
for more outrageous ideas. But hopefully, these will get
your wheels turning in the meantime.
What's Wrong with 'American Idol'?
Bob Baker's updated manifesto on how the
popular show is creating widespread misconceptions about
what it takes to succeed as a musical artist today.
It's one of the most popular TV shows of
recent years, drawing tens of millions of viewers every
week. Even I admit, American Idol is fun to watch. The show
provides all the elements of good pop culture entertainment:
passion, emotion, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat,
dreams attained and lost ...
So, what's wrong with American Idol?
Considering it's lumped into the "reality"
TV category, the show is doing a great disservice to aspiring
musicians (and the public at large) by distorting perceptions
of how the music business really works. It sends an outdated
message of "dependence" on the industry vs. the
more realistic "independence" that artists have
today to control their own careers.
The Talent Discovery Myth
For instance, the program leads you to believe
that there are hundreds of people like Simon, Paula and
Randy out there searching for raw talent they can mold into
the next big pop star. Not true. Sure, record companies
employ A&R people whose job it is to sign and nurture
new artists -- but as major labels consolidate, cut staffs,
and get nervous about the bottom line, they no longer have
the time or money to develop new acts.
Instead, labels look for artists who are
already developing themselves, attracting fans, and selling
CDs on their own. There's less risk with an act that has
a track record.
Also, the American Idol auditions, in particular,
create the illusion that most aspiring musicians lack talent
and are delusional, struggling and starving. In reality,
there are thousands of talented performers across the country
who make good money, have hundreds of devoted fans, and
are steadily building careers.
Here's just one example of this modern reality:
Over the past seven years, the web site CD Baby has sold
more than $12 million worth of CDs (1.3 million units) by
independent, unsigned acts. A tremendous amount of quality
music is being produced and sold outside the mainstream.
The Danger of Waiting for Your 'Big Break'
One of the biggest myths American Idol propels
is that you need the approval of industry gatekeepers to
"make it" in music. Sorry, you don't need Simon's
or anyone else's permission to be worthy of a career in
music. If you wait for someone to give you the green light
to create and perform music, you'll be waiting a long time.
Too many musicians claim they need to be
"discovered" or given a "big break"
to succeed. That kind of thinking puts control of your career
in someone or something outside of yourself. The truth is,
artists have a lot more power, tools and opportunities at
their disposal than they give themselves credit for.
When aspiring artists see the stellar success
of Idol winner Kelly Clarkson, they're led to believe that
landing a major recording contract must be the ultimate
sign of success. Unfortunately, those singers are the exceptions,
not the rule. Only about one in 30 signed acts reach significant
enough sales levels to warrant a second CD release -- which
means nearly 97% of artists with recording contracts fail.
Yet, most musicians are still obsessed with getting "industry"
approval and think they need a major label deal.
The Ultimate 'Reality'
The smartest musicians understand that building
a career independently is the best approach. They promote
themselves, book their own shows, produce and sell their
own CDs, and establish relationships directly with fans.
Doing so, they learn the ropes and slowly develop the skills
and business savvy needed to reach higher levels of success.
It's misguided for artists to think they
need massive exposure and the approval of music industry
honchos a la American Idol to succeed. That knee-jerk reasoning
is based on a decades-old business model that is gasping
its last desperate breaths. It's a new day. Now it's all
about self-empowerment. Musicians need to claim their personal
power, take their careers into their own hands, promote
themselves relentlessly, and create their own lucky breaks.
So enjoy American Idol for the "unreality"
entertainment that it is. But pursue your dreams with the
understanding that you are in complete control of your musical
aspirations and development.
Who Do You Sound Like? (And Why
It's Important)
by Bob Baker
Admit it. Most musicians hate to compare
themselves to other artists. Does this describe you? If
you feel you are a unique, one-of-a-kind creative being,
I wholeheartedly agree with you. But if you think you shouldn't
tarnish your musical identity with comparisons to other
artists, I ask you to reconsider.
Why? It has everything to do with this crazy
little hunk of matter called the human brain. According
to the Berkeley Lab, "Humans retrieve information best
when it can be linked to other related information."
In other words, without a familiar reference point, people
have a tough time filing away and remembering new sights,
sounds, smells, etc.
Tapping Into 'The System'
In an article by Allen Barker, he writes,
"Memory is a dynamic process. It arises from reminders
and cues." The process that helps the brain sort out
new stimulus is called "associative memory." Barker
continues, "An associative memory is a memory system
that takes an input 'key' and produces the 'closest' stored
memory that matches that key. If the memory had stored a
picture of a chair, for example, and were presented with
a 'key' of half a chair, it would fill in the remaining
half of the chair."
If you think this is all impractical mumbo
jumbo, check out the work being done by Pandora. It's Music
Genome Project is a system that analyzes music using "a
set of attributes that capture not only the musical identity
of a song, but also many significant qualities that are
relevant to understanding the musical preferences of consumers
who browse the material. Each song is analyzed along 400
distinct musical attributes to create a complete musical
analysis."
Sounds deep, but in essence, the Pandora
research works much like Amazon's "customers who bought
X also purchased Y" recommendations.
Making the Mental Music Connection
Another site that understands the importance
of this concept is WeSoundLike.com. The home page reads
"Find new music like your favorite music! Just browse
for your favorite music artists and we'll tell you the new
and upcoming artists that are influenced by them!"
To add your act, go to the submission page at www.wesoundlike.com/SubmissionForm.cfm.
Convinced yet? Music fans need clues. People
who enjoy your music also enjoy other artists. And many
of those artists are more familiar to the masses than you
are right now. So tap into the mental links that already
exist in the minds of fans who support other similar-sounding
artists.
How Do You 'Unleash' Your Talents?
by Bob Baker
Let's talk about artist empowerment -- one
of my favorite topics lately ...
Not long ago I presented one of my first
Unleash the Artist Within workshops. While promoting the
event, I discovered that different people have different
interpretations of what it means to "unleash"
themselves as an artist.
Many people assumed at first that the workshop
was about developing your creativity, along the lines of
Julia Cameron's book, "The Artist's Way." Some
of what I talk about does relate to giving yourself permission
to create and feeling worthy to do so, but my definition
of "unleash" is more far-reaching than that.
What do I mean by "Unleash the Artist
Within"? Well, I believe that to be a successful musician,
you must be willing to ...
* Unleash your creative leanings, artistic
inclinations and natural talents. Yes, exercising your creativity
has many benefits. For one, it's personally rewarding. Denying
yourself the opportunity to write, perform and record music
can lead to stagnation and frustration. By feeding and answering
the call of your creative urges, you improve the quality
of your own life while enriching the world with your talents.
* Unleash your potential to create something
of beauty or significance. When you take action on your
musical interests, you bring your ideas to life. Too many
people only dream about their creative desires and never
see their talents materialize. When you "unleash the
artist within," you transform your music into a tangible
form that can be enjoyed, experienced and shared. And that's
a powerful thing.
* Unleash your belief in yourself. While
you're busy unleashing, be sure to set free your confidence,
desire, optimism and enthusiasm. Many creative people are
plagued by fear and doubt. It's no wonder, with all the
misguided "struggling artist" advice heaped on
creative people. Don't buy into it. Your fears are self-imposed.
So brush the self-doubt aside and choose to let your belief
in yourself shine through.
* Unleash your creative gifts and your
artistic contribution to the world. Playing music and being
recognized for your talents feels good. It's this personal
reward that draws most people to music in the first place.
However, I believe the most successful musicians quickly
evolve and begin putting more emphasis on the benefits they
deliver to fans. Making an artistic contribution and sharing
your unique brand of music should be the ultimate thing
that drives you. And, interestingly, putting a priority
on your fans leads to more personal satisfaction for you.
* Unleash your worthiness to receive and
be rewarded for your creative contributions. I also believe
that empowered musicians go through three stages:
1) Playing music for themselves.
2) Playing music for the benefit of others. And ...
3) Playing music for profit.
But many people get hung up on #3. To truly
"unleash the artist within" you must know that
making money with your talents is not only acceptable, it's
part of the abundant nature of the universe. You have something
of value to offer, and you deserve to be rewarded for your
contribution to the world.
To hammer home these thoughts on why it's
important to "unleash," let me share a great quote
from Patanjali, who is credited with founding the philosophy
of yoga more than 2,000 years ago:
"When you are inspired by some great
purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break
their bounds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness
expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new,
great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and
talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a
greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to
be."
Think about that as you contemplate your
rightful place in music.
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