So you’ve spent countless hours honing your musical voice and you are ready to take your product on the road. Now all you need is to choose a city whose scene, trends and history fit your brand, in order for you and your music to gain the attention it deserves.
Here’s a brief overview of touring key East coast cities:
Washington, DC
Washington, DC has an incredibly rich musical history, dating from the early days of Jazz with Duke Ellington, to the Soul/Funk movement with DC native, Marvin Gaye. Currently, in response to DC’s prolific club/dance scene, House music is becoming a staple. DC is also known for its hardcore punk bands channeling the city’s political rage whenever warranted.
Styles: Indie-Rock, Punk, RnB, House
Popular Artists: Wale, Thievery Corporation, Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Henry Rollins
Venue over-view:
The Velvet Lounge – A performance space that offers spots to music ranging from punk rock to alt-folk.
DC9 – A small venue which showcases new talent.
Rock n Roll Hotel – Trendy club and performance space in the increasingly popular Atlas District.
Iota – Has an open-mic nights every Wednesday night.
The Red and the Black Bar – popular punk-rock bar supporting up and coming bands.
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage – The world renowned Kennedy Center also supports up and coming artists on their Millennium Stage.
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is home to a multifarious group of musical genres and their respective musicians. With the river city also being home to Virginia Commonwealth University and its 30,000+ students, the music scene is very lively, yet intimate. The earlier contributions of Richmond’s musical output consisted largely of punk and heavy metal bands, including such acts as GWAR and Lamb of God. Today, one can see the worlds of jazz, punk, rock, folk, electronic, hip-hop, blues, and many more all coexisting under one roof.
Notable Styles: Indie Rock, Punk, Blues/Jazz, Metal, Jam Band
Venues for up and coming artists:
Alley Katz – Opened in 1995, 500 max capacity. Books up-and-coming acts as well as internationally known artists.
The Hat Factory – Built in 1896 to house the Virginia Paper Company located on the canal in Richmond’s historic Shockoe Slip District. The hat factory is host to all types of local, regional, and national acts.
The Canal Club – Also located in Richmond’s Shockoe Slip District, The Canal Club has played its part in providing richmonders with quality local up-and-coming acts as well as more nationally known bands.
New York City, New York
Always a busy town for entertainment, and the heart of the country’s music industry, New York’s hustle and bustle atmosphere and large, diverse population has created a prolific and eclectic musical output. However, its prolific musical output also means there is heavy competition, so be sure to proceed with passion and commitment. Currently NYC is known for its dominance in the indie rock scene, while still keeping a mark on the worldwide Hip-Hop and Rap scene. There is also an outstanding number of Jazz venues, and of course its reputation for quality theater will serve well for people interested in the arts.
Notable Styles: Indie Rock, Hip-Hop/Rap, Blues/Jazz, Musical Theater.
Notable Artists: The Strokes, MGMT, Ratatat, Interpol, John Coltrane, LL Cool J. The list is endless…
Venues for up-and-coming musicians:
Cafe Vivaldi - Known for their open mic nights with great local singer-songwriters.
Nuyorican Poets Cafe – Known for its poetry open mics and hip-hop freestyling.
Mercury Lounge – Described as a venue which hosts bands border lining “next big thing” status.
Rockwood Music Hall – Hosts up and coming artists on a regular basis.
Arlene’s Grocery – Live music 7 days a week.
Boston, MA
Though Boston is known as one of the birthplaces for hardcore punk music, the city’s scene doesn’t exclusively focus on this. Though historically, Boston has been the birthplace to many important rock bands such as The Cars and Boston (who knew?), in recent years the more popular bands that have been exported from Boston have been more pop-punky than your average rock and roll troupe.
Notable Styles: Punk, Pop-Punk, Hardcore, Garage Rock, Screamo.
Popular Artists: Aerosmith, Dropkick Murphy’s, The Pixies, Godsmack, Boys Like Girls, Passion Pit
Venues for up-and-coming artists:
The Baseball Tavern – A bar that hosts bands which are very diverse genre wise. Located near Fenway Park.
Bill’s Bar – Everything from hardcore to funk and groove.
Church – 225 capacity music venue that hosts both local and touring artists.
House of Blues – A restaurant that books local and touring blues artists.
Philidelphia
Philly is most notable for its contribution to the evolution of East Coast hip-hop. It is the place to go if you’re looking for a career in R&B. Also, the city’s large Jamaican population makes it a lively place for Reggae night life. It is also a place with a thriving classical music scene.
Popular Artists: DJ Jazzy Jeff, TLC, Boyz II Men, The Roots
Venues for up-and-coming musicians:
Astrocade – Features mostly new indie rock bands.
Fergie’s – Irish pub featuring Rock and Folk acts.
The Fire – A venue open to musical acts of any kind.
Reef Restaurant and Lounge – A restaurant that hosts an event called “Island Rhythms Saturday” that hires local Reggae, Soca, Salsa, and R&B acts.
Brian Zimmerman is the latest addition to the imaginePR team. A recent graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University, he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing with University honors and now focuses his efforts on the music industry. He has listened to hundreds of demo CDs while reviewing local music for WRIR 97.3, Richmond’s Independent Radio, and believes that artists should be educated on the little details that can make their demo go a long way. As a result, Brian has put together the following tip sheet for musicians:
What is a demo?
A demo is not quite a full on master, but it will give your audience an idea of what you sound like on a professional recording. “Demo” is short for “demonstration recording,” and will often be how you make your first impression to A&R reps, venue bookers, managers, etc. Record companies and venues alike listen to demos to help them decide whether or not they want you for a record deal or gig. Below are a few pointers on how to make a quality demo.
Tip One – Know Your Listeners
First of all, know your audience. Are you sending this demo to record companies in the hope of getting a record deal, or to local venues in the hope of booking some gigs? If you are sending out demos to record companies, know what types of artists they have signed and what their sound is. If the signed artists play music from the opposite side of the spectrum compared to your band, than you may be looking at the wrong label. Make sure that your sound fits the label’s repertoire.
Similarly, when sending your demo to venues you want to make sure that your sound fits their ambiance. Otherwise, you may be wasting time and money sending demos to people who will probably not want to book your band. Also, many bands will record their demos live so that venues can hear what they will sound like outside the studio. This tactic is beneficial, especially if you have a crowd of people cheering you on in the background!
Tip Two - Pick Your Best Songs
Always pick the best song from your band’s repertoire, the ones that you feel encompasses the band’s overall sound. While they may not be your most popular songs, you need to identify the tracks that have the best performance, singing, chorus, song structure, etc. and put those on the demo. You may even want to ask someone else in the industry beside yourself to help identify what songs are truly your best.
Also, it is a good idea to keep the number of tracks down to 2 or 3 tracks maximum. This is because many record companies have track limits regarding the demos they will listen to; and frankly no one is going to sit and listen to a ridiculously long demo. Lastly, it is always a good idea to make sure that all of your songs are copyrighted before sending out your demos.
Tip Three – Dress It Up
Seriously consider making a nice quality CD cover and jacket for your demo CD. This is a great way to artistically display your band’s “brand,” and it will definitely look better than a blank CD in an empty jewel case. This may sound expensive, but considering the fact you should only need a small number of demos to send to local venues/labels/etc., you should consider investing in software that enables you to customize and print CD covers/jackets from your home printer. With the prominence of MP3s today, you may even want to consider purchasing custom flash drives to upload your demo onto. That is just another way to jazz up your demo and make it stand out.
Tip Four – Contact Info
This seems pretty simple, but you will always want to make sure that you have all of your contact information physically attached to the demo, not just the jacket. The easiest way to achieve this would be a sticker on the demo with your contact info. That way, if your demo CD gets separated from its original case, which it most likely will, there will be no questions as to who the band is and how you can contact them. If you go with the above mentioned flash drive route, you will want to make a document on the flash drive with your full contact information as well.
Tip Five – Quality Sound
While the quality of the songs should come first, the quality of your demo’s sound is also important. That is why you need to spend some time thinking about how you want to record your demo. Recording in a recording studio is very expensive. However, considering the fact that your demo will have a limited number of tracks, it may be worth the money to record with professional equipment and engineers. If money is tight, you can find home studio recording software to record with as a cheaper alternative option. While home studio recording software is less expensive than studio time, you may want to consider taking your home recorded demo to a professional engineer and have him master the tracks for you to get the best possible sound quality you can.
Artists On Demand radio has become one of the most popular entertainment shows on Blog Talk Radio with listeners in the thousands. You can find everything from today’s hottest up and coming bands/musicians, popular artists and photographers, directors, producers, and the most popular celebrities from TV and movies.
Presenter and booker Kristin Downer kindly agreed to answer some quick fire questions about herself, her music tastes and what she looks for from musicians on AOD:
1. What are your passions in life?
My life is filled with different kinds of passions. I love finding different and new things and helping spread the word about them. I love music and find it invigorating to find something new and unique that gives you a breath of fresh air when it comes to a business full of the same sound. I love books, and movies, and anything that can really catch your attention. And of course I am first and foremost a mom.
2. Tell us about Artist on Demand radio and how it started.
Artists On Demand started with two of my best friends, Nikki Moore and Vicky Gorman. They wanted a place for their favorite bands and musicians to be able to share their music and their own passions. I joined shortly after it started and it has taken on a life of its own! It’s much bigger than what we originally thought it would be and we have high hopes for it in the future. We interview mainstream celebrities from the hottest TV shows and Movies. We also interview directors, producers, authors, dancers, and anyone else with an art form of any kind. We pride ourselves on giving independent musicians and bands a place to share their music though. Music is our number one passion.
3. What 5 up and coming bands do you recommend we check out?
Five up and coming bands that I think everyone should check out are:
The Nova Echo - Their music is fresh and upbeat. They can make you dance or just sway in place and it always draws you in with the lyrics and the sound. They are also some of the nicest and most down to earth people you will ever meet.
100 Monkeys - I have listened to this band for quite a while and over the past year they have evolved so much. They started out just doing improv songs that they made up from ideas from the audience and themselves. Now they write amazing music with meaningful lyrics. They are multi-talented and put on an amazing stage performance which includes their “switcharoos” where the band switches up instruments throughout the show.
Ian Axel - Ian is an amazing singer/songwriter out of New York. His skills on the piano are to die for and his music is soulful and smooth. You can hear the passion he puts into his work. I would recommend him to anyone.
EdstanleY: They are a band out of Los Angeles that are getting ready to do a mini tour around the west coast. They have a heavier sound, but amazing at the same time. Very down to earth guys with a great sound and great passion.
Forever The Day - This band has not yet been on AOD, but I am hoping for it in the near future. An amazing group of guys with an amazing sound. They have a very classical rock feel to them and have amazing musicians within the band that add to the songs. It is well worth checking them out.
4. Do you have a tips for musicians applying to be on Artists on Demand?
The only tip for musicians that are wanting to come on Artists On Demand is to be themselves. We like unique music, upbeat personalities, and people who just generally care about their careers. We don’t want to hear someone playing someone else’s music. We want you to show who you are as a musician just give us all you got. Be you.
5. What online sites do you use the most to discover new music?
We use all sources to discover new music. A lot of the music we find is on referrals from other bands, our listeners, or a lot come from our staff. Myspace is also a great place for new music. Myspace Music has charts for unsigned and signed bands. You can find anyone you want and any genre you want. Reverbnation is also a great avenue to find good music. All the information you could want about a band is on there.
Last Saturday I had the pleasure of hosting a very animated and informative #DCWEEK panel discussion about how performing artists can use the web to their advantage. On the panel was Sean Glover, Director of Artists Relations at SoundExchange, Dave Sherbow, owner of onefanconsulting.com and musicbizguy.com and Keith Center, frontman of The Dreamscapes Project and owner of Figmental Records.
A number of important points were made during our discussion. For those of you who were unable to attend, here’s a summary:
In order to maximize your online experience, you need to address the foundational elements of online marketing – define your identity, define who/where you target audience are, and define your attitude towards the web. Ask yourself how do you view the web? How would you google yourself? What is your competition doing? Go to your fans and make it easy for them to identify you. Don’t expect them to come to you.
Key words in online marketing, via Jeff Pulver, “Listen, Connect, Share, Engage”.
Emails are golden! Artists should prioritize collecting and owning fan data (such as email addresses, zip codes and cell numbers) and endeavor to collect this information via all their online platforms. Having a fan newsletter is one of the most important e-marketing tools. Email marketing is still one of the most effective marketing avenues as it’s permission-based marketing. You can also be targeted in your marketing.
MySpace (the grandfather of social networking sites) is not dead. It’s still a very effective promotional tool within the music industry due to its user-base, the familiarity of its lay-out and effective music player. Its power as an interactive platform has decreased, as social media sites like Twitter and Facebook have taken over. Dave Sherbow talks further about this in his blog post “Making Myspace Into a Tool That Matters”
Artists need to protect their digital assets! Thousands of musicians have still not signed up to SoundExchange.com to collect their digital royalties. SoundExchange is an independent, non-profit performances rights organization which collects statutory royalties from satellite radio (such as SIRIUS XM), internet radio, cable TV music channels and similar platforms for streaming sound recordings. In order to receive these royalties artists MUST sign up to SoundExchange (it’s FREE).
To stop yourself feeling overwhelmed with online management, choose solutions that are right for you. Two task management solutions recommended were Evernote.com & Rememberthemilk.com.
Online marketing only works in conjunction with effective offline marketing. If you are not aggressive and proactive with your offline marketing, the impact of your online marketing efforts will be decreased. The two compliment each other.
Washington, DC’s greatly anticipated Digital Capital Week (DCWEEK) will be supporting the local music scene with a host of events encouraging collaboration and creativity in the nation’s capital. Key events include the ‘Metro Music Source’ music industry networking party on June 15th, a ‘Performing Artists Clinic’ on June 19th, and a 9:30 Club closing party on June 19th, showcasing the best in local talent in the DC area.
The Metro Music Source (MMS) was founded nearly a year ago by co-hosts Dave Mallen (owner/producer of Innovation Station Music) and Jem Bahaijoub (owner of imaginePR) as a focal point for the thriving and diverse DC area music scene. It offers music creators and industry professionals the opportunity to socialize, share knowledge, and collaborate, while also helping to raise the profile of DC music on a national level. Past MMS events have brought together local musicians, major and indie label executives, artist managers and marketing reps, record store managers, publicists, filmmakers, music publishers, producer/engineers, and more.
As part of #DCWEEK, the Metro Music Source will be hosting a special music industry networking event on Tuesday, June 15th at Bar Louie from 6.30pm-9.30pm. The event will feature several special guests from across the industry, and will be covered by DC Life magazine.
Another key event in the #DCWEEK calendar is the ‘Performing Artists Clinic – How To Use The Web To Your Advantage’ on June 19th from 3.30pm-4.30pm. This panel presentation and Q&A discussion will feature key industry speakers such as Sean Glover, Manager of Artist Relations at SoundExchange, Dave Sherbow, author of ‘One Fan At A Time’, and Keith Center, frontman of DC folk-rock group The Dreamscapes Project. The event will be hosted by Jem Bahaijoub, owner of imaginePR, a DC based music PR and marketing company. The panel discussion will focus on how performing artists can maximize their online experience, key elements of online branding and social media marketing, and various tips, tools and practical advice on online platforms.
#DCWEEK will end in spectacular style with techARTS closing party at the 9:30 Club on the evening of June 19th. In just three weeks 34,000 votes were cast by 10,000+ people across the city for their favorite bands to perform at the legendary venue. techARTS are happy to announce that Amber Dutton, The Very Small, McWorm, 16 Large, Vedet, Stout Cortez, Blankus Larry, Little Big Heart, and East Coast Caravan have all been invited to play.
Music Metro Source Networking Event
Tuesday, June 15th
6.30pm – 9.30pm
Bar Louie
701 7th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20001
Cost – $20 includes 2 drinks and a shared appetizer
Register – http://metromusicsource.eventbrite.com/
9:30 Club Closing Party
Saturday, June 19th
10pm – 3.30am
9:30 Club
815 V Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Cost – $20
Register – http://techarts930.eventbrite.com/
One Fan At A Time: Building Your Music Biz To The Max
One Fan Consulting (run by industry veteran Dave Sherbow) offer a free 75 page e-book that is full of resources, advice, and guides showing artists how to make money in the ever changing music industry. Go to the One Fan Consulting website HERE to access.
The New RockStar Philosophy
This is a must-read for all artists. A comprehensive step by step guide covering everything from branding, online presence, touring, merchandise, networking and more. Access the e-book HERE. The blog is also a great read too.
Squeezing The Show
If you’re artist trying to figure out how to handle the complex business of tour booking and tour marketing then I highly recommend reading the free e-book called “Squeezing The Show”. It was written by Ben Coe from The Artist Farm, an artist management company, formerly from Red Light, one of the major management firms in the US. Download the PDF HERE.
Dave Mallen is a producer and owner of Innovation Station Music in Arlington, VA. He was one of the first people in the DC music scene to help me out when I first arrived in the city. He provided me with invaluable advice and insight into the local music scene, and as a result has become a trusted industry colleague and friend. Together we organize a monthly music industry networking event in DC called the Metro Music Source. Dave kindly answered some quick fire questions for me:
1. What are your observations of changes in the recording industry over the past 5/10 years?
Well, first let me make a distinction between the music business and the recording industry. In terms of the overall music business, people are seeking out and enjoying more music than ever before – going to live shows, streaming content over the internet, discovering new artists via their favorite TV shows or video games, and – for better or worse – sharing files illegally. The problem is that these same music lovers are not buying CDs. Sales of recorded music are down overall from 5 years ago, and the rise in digital downloads from sites like iTunes and Rhapsody has not been enough to counter the decline in physical CD sales. So while there is growing demand for music, the recording industry is in fact not doing so well.
I’ve also observed a ripple effect, where the larger record labels, who built their business models largely on revenues from recorded music sales are not as likely today to take risks on new, untested artists. Many labels that used to fund recording at pro studios are looking for artists and bands that have already made a professional record on their own dime. And these same labels have also scaled back on artist development. This has created a vacuum in the recording industry, where it has fallen on producers/production companies, managers, as well as smaller indie labels to discover and develop artists and their music in order to ultimately help them get their recordings made and heard by the masses.
Fortunately for artists, the cost of recording technology has decreased to the point where artists can afford to make high fidelity recordings in home or professional project studios. Of course, there is no substitute for know-how, and even the best gear won’t help you unless you have some training in the recording arts. With Innovation Station Music, I wanted to create an “incubator” for local talent that filled these gaps in the industry, offering not only high-end recording, but also true production expertise and strategic guidance on how to keep in step with the ever-changing music business.
2. You offer a music business consulting service in addition to recording and producing. What advice do you tend to give artists just starting out?
I love working with emerging artists, because they’re generally open to all kinds of new ideas. You have to be willing to think of yourself as a business and structure your time so that you identify and capitalize on opportunities as they arise. And when there aren’t any opportunities, you have to create some for yourself.
Start off by studying and honing your craft to become excellent at what you do. Set goals for yourself or your band, and keep track of progress against those goals. If you’re a songwriter, dedicate some time each day toward writing new material. When you’re ready, record a 3-4 song demo CD as part of a professional press kit. Use that to get gigs, network, give out at music conferences, etc. Then, once you’ve made enough money to do it right, record an EP (5-8 songs). Full-length albums are not as relevant as they used to be, with more and more folks buying individual digital tracks online. The pace of life is not slowing down, and people’s attention spans seem to be shrinking, so you have to keep things fresh and deliver products that can be consumed in smaller bites.
Don’t put up filters or walls to yourself or your music. Get out there and meet people! Play open mics to test out new material and get more experience playing in front of an audience. Network with other similar artists/bands and offer to open for them. Don’t let a gig go by without you capturing the names, email addresses, and geographic locations of as many in the audience as possible. Stay in communication with your friends and fans via your website, newsletters, and social networking sites.
Initially, give away your music for free so that it can spread virally, but when the time is right, don’t be afraid to assign a value to your art and start charging for it. In order to be a professional working musician today, you’ll need multiple income streams. Consider licensing your songs to TV, Film, videogames, etc. Contact internet radio stations and convince the program directors to play your tracks (the legit ones pay royalties!). Think about merchandising – T-shirts bundled with CDs can often make you more of a profit than if they were sold separately! Observe what others like you are doing and see if it’s working. And of course, read as much as you can about trends in the music business.
3. The DC music scene is very vibrant. Have you seen it change a lot since you’ve lived here?
DC has a very democratic and welcoming approach to the arts, and a really supportive music community. There are some great local organizations for songwriters and musicians, and a lot of very motivated people who seem to always be helping each other out. You don’t find that just anywhere. But it’s not known as a music town, and people don’t typically move here to launch a music career. It’s also very transient – that goes for the musicians and the fans – and I’ve seen artists who haven’t even maxed out their potential here leave for places like Austin, Nashville, NYC, or Los Angeles. I think, in part, this is because there isn’t enough demand for, and too few venues catering to, local original music.
There really is no one DC music “scene”. Most folks I’ve talked to agree that DC has a lot of talent, but the music community is somewhat fragmented. You can see fantastic players and singers at the Jazz clubs around U St., indie rockers at newer venues like DC9 and the Red and the Black, as well as acoustic singer-songwriters at places like Iota and Jammin Java. I think the folk-acoustic tradition here in DC is very strong, and styles of music that focus on political and social issues will always be in vogue here. There’s room for everyone here in DC, and it’s not at all competitive – that’s one of the things I like most about it.
I’ve invested a lot of time trying to grow and “defragment” the music scene – to bring musicians together in a way that fosters collaboration. Only by linking the disparate elements of the DC music community – and this includes MD and VA – will synergies be created and a true “scene” emerge. There are already exciting examples of collaborations across genres that have borne fruit and even won local artists some Grammy awards this year. There’s a lot of great energy building right now – I think if DC musicians had more knowledge about how the music business works as well as more of a local infrastructure to support their careers, there’s no question that DC would become more recognized as a “music town”!
4. Any up and coming DC talent you would like to spotlight?
I’ve worked with so many talented artists over the past few years, I’d hate to exclude anybody! But since I can’t list 100+ names, I’ll mention a few current or soon to be released projects:
Nila Kay and I are working on a few songs that will be released shortly and shopped for TV/Film placements – she’ll also be performing at Strathmore on May 26. She’s got a sweet, soulful voice, and the simple innocence of her lyrics speaks to pretty much everyone. Our first completed song, “Frozen Grapes”, can be found on my website.
Donnie Logan, originally from the DC area and now residing in Los Angeles, is another fantastic singer/songwriter to watch out for. Think Coldplay meets Damien Rice. I’m producing an EP for him between here and LA, and he just got a song placed in a Disney film. I’ll be finishing up the mixes this week so that we can pitch other songs to Disney very soon. Check out his song, “Hey Sunshine”, also on my website.
Once Okay Twice is an indie rock band with an 80’s retro sound. They were one of On Tap magazine’s “Bands to Watch” in 2008, and have developed a unique sound and a dedicated following here in the DC area. We’re in the early stages of recording the EP right now, but stay tuned!
Brian Franke is a singer-songwriter who I’ve been producing and recording for a few years now. He’s won awards for his songs through the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, played dozens of gigs in the area, and is soon to release his first record of hard rockin’ songs with a sensitive folk core.
Ryan Fontanilla, a genius guitar virtuoso, is about to release copies of our 12-song New Age collaboration, Black Spring, which features Ryan on acoustic guitar and me providing accompaniment on a variety of organic and electronic instruments. All tracks from the record can be streamed from the TV/Film Music page on my website.
About Innovation Station Music:
Innovation Station Music is a one-stop shop music production company focused on artist and song development, producing the highest quality music possible, and providing innovative strategies to help you meet your musical goals and navigate the ever-changing music industry.
Since living in the US, I’ve been doing my best to keep up to date with what’s going on in the music industry back home in England. I’ve had various conversations with US musicians who are traveling over to the UK and want to know how to access resources and information about the music market there. I’ve also have various music industry pros asking me if I think their band’s music would work in the UK market. Well here’s a mini-guide to the UK music industry which will allow you make up your own mind -
Industry News
1. CMU Daily is a daily e-newsletter which is received by virtually everyone in the UK music industry. It’s free to subscribe and provides news on trade industry stories, festivals, tours and new releases. Each day it profiles a new up and coming artist. Check out the website and subscribe to the newsletter at www.thecmuwebsite.com.
2. Music Week is the leading music industry trade magazine in the UK. It also has a digital version. Both are paid for but you can sign-up free to their daily e-newsletter. www.musicweek.com
Musician’s Resources
1. The Unsigned Guide is the best guide for unsigned musicians in the UK. It provides a full directory on venues, music promoters, record labels, music management, publishers, media and festivals.They also have a great blog at www.theunsignedguide.com which provides helpful tips to musicians.
2. The Music Week Directory is created by Music Week (see above) and is published yearly. It provides a comprehensive list of contact details for record labels, publishers, promoters, publicists etc.
UK Music Festivals
The music festival scene in the UK is increasing on a yearly basis. To keep up to date on festival and their line-ups check out these two great sites: www.efestivals.co.uk www.welovefestivals.com
I’ve been noticing more and more that some musicians are sticking to their personal Facebook page to promote their music rather than opting for a Facebook fan page. I think it’s extremely important for every musician to have a Facebook fan page for the following reasons:
1. It strengthens your online brand instantly by keeping the personal and professional separate.
2. It’s automatically set as a public page so it’s more effective for search engine indexing and viral marketing.
3. It offers the “insight tools” function which provides information on how fans interact with your page. You can view traffic and fan demographics. You can also export your data into an excel sheet.
4. You can send messages to fans according to their geographical location and demography. Therefore your marketing becomes targeted.
5. You can exploit the power of indirect connections to boost your fan base. For example you can ask your fan base to recommend your page to their friends.
A great book on Facebook marketing is ‘3,000 fans in 30 Days’ by the New Media School. I thoroughly recommend it!
I’m really excited to finally launch my ‘Music Marketing Workshop series’ in Washington DC! I’ve been thinking about it for a long time now and really wanted to offer another service to musicians and music industry pros outside of my usual monthly PR and marketing campaigns.
The first installment entitled ‘Online Marketing For Musicians: Part 1’ is co-hosted with Sisarina, DC’s leading web marketing company. I really wanted to host a workshop that would provide both a music industry and non-music industry perspective. All musicians should see themselves as a small business. Therefore I was keen to combine my knowledge with Melanie Spring from Sisarina, who has successfully helped to launch numerous small businesses in the DC area.
I encourage all musicians and music industry pros to provide as much feedback as possible as to what they would like me to cover in future workshops. I want to cater these workshops around their needs, and make them as interactive as possible.
You can download the flyer for ‘Online Marketing For Musicians’ HERE.
So you’ve spent countless hours honing your musical voice and you are ready to take your product on the road. Now all you need is to choose a city whose scene, trends and history fit your brand, in order for you and your music to gain the attention it deserves.
