demo and promotion idea/question

CDT-sHaG

CDT-sHaG

New member
hi guys,

It's been a long time since I posted on this BBS.

basically, I got to the point where I realized that I am more into being a musician than a recording engineer. So I have spent the last 4 months or so developing a band. We are a trio with me on acoustic guitar plus an electric bassist and a drummer.

We are in the process of recording a demo to send out to get shows. We will have a press kit containing a demo CD, pictures and a bio. we don't have any reviews because we have not played out yet, but I plan on at least getting the first run of the press kit reviewed and add that information in. Also, we will have a website with all of the normal info found on a band site..

we are recording the demo ourselves on a Yamaha aw16g digital workstation, and we plan on sending the final mix out for mastering.

we have 17 original songs. the style if a blend of jazz, funk, blues, pop, folk and rock. out of the 17, the songs range somewhat dramatically, though not enough as to lead one to think we're trying to be 4 bands at once.....it is cohesive....they all share a big emphasis on groove and vocals and the sound of the instruments stays the same (no effects or novelties..just straight playing).

basically we have fast, mid and slow tempo tunes..some rock more, some are more mid-tempo and melodic, some swing...and we started out trying to record them all (tracking since our room sound stinks)..and have gotten overwhelmed very fast. We've decided to just pick out 3-4 tunes for the demo and leave it at that...but how to pick the tunes? I can honestly say that, if I had to pick the strongest tune, I couldn't so it. and neither can the other members nor anyone that has heard us. they love them all equally for different reasons.

I have toyed with the idea that we could release a 4-song demo and then use that to get started. then, periodically record other 4 song demos to have to sell at shows along with the first one..basically a volume type thing (ex: vol I, Vol II...etc..). but probably, if we get really rolling, we'd go into the studio...but I thought the volume idea would be a neat way to have a flow of material for distribution at our shows. also, on our site we could have mp3's of one tune from each vol....

is this a good idea? anyone ever tried this? what would be a fair charge $$-wise for 4-song CD's? Should I give away the first one for a while in the beginning or sell it for at least a few $$s?

Thanks.
 
CDT,
I would at least sell the cd for what I had in it. Maybe a LITTLE less. You don't want to give it away. People might think you can't sell it, so you're giving it away. Four songs on your cd should represent a cross section of the music you have. At least you have a plan. Go for it man, Good luck.


bd
 
In my experience the average price is $1 per song... so have a bundle of the 4 song CD and a bumpersticker (~$80 for 500 at stickersandmore.com) and sell the package for an even $5 as... a $5 CD with free sticker :)
 
another idea for ya

your music sound some like mine.
anyway, a good idea I got out of the book "guerrilla music marketing handbook" is have a custom rubber stamp made of your band's web address and have the clubs you go to stamp the fans with it. what this will do is, the kids will wake up in the morning after your killer show and look and see you web address on their hand. They'll go over to their computer and log onto your site and some will buy your cd from cd baby or another link to a company that can handle your merchandise and they will buy your stuff.
If you're gonna be an indie artist getting going, the key is to have multiple streams of income coming in, shows, t-shirts, cd's, web site cd's sold, bubble gum, stickers, local retailers, etc. Another good thing is if you can afford it, get some samplers made of 2 or 3 songs and pass em out for promo. If they can hear a good song, they'll want to come to the gig. Try before you buy works. And make sure you know who your ideal fans are. Sounds like you pitching to the collage jam band scene maybe. if you do long solos and improve, then check out relix.com. That's some great marketing there.......hope this helps.......weatherbill
 
thanks bill..

yeah...the college scene will probably be better for us...but we're not really a jam band per se..i mean we have a couple of tunes that go off at the end..but really, i only play about 4 solos out of 17 tunes..i'll probably post our demo tunes here in the mp3 forum to get some feedback once we've finished the final mixes.....

that is a great idea about the stamp thing..and the sampler as well..

thank you again.
 
I did this with my band and it worked out fine.
1)Recorded enough tunes for a full length CD (10 tracks)
2)Made 100 promo 4 track samplers to give away at local stores, and internet to see if there was interest.
3) Asked for responses via email about the tunes via a card inserted into the sampler, got response from 60%.
4)After receiving mostly positive responses, released 100 full length CD's locally and on cdbaby.com
5)Sent a 2 track single to indie stations for possible airplay.
6)find a free site to post MP3's and pictures. www.IUMA.com is a great place to start. I've got my own virtual press kit posted(I have a link below if you'd like to check it out) with 4 songs and a photo.
7)Post it in as many places as you'd be allowed. I usually place mine at the bottom of an email or post.

I wasted about $300.00 on promotion for the CD but it was worth it. People know who we are and are willing to come out and see us play, I even got to send a copy of the CD to Todd Rundgren!


http://setthecontrols.iuma.com
http://www.cdbaby.com/setthecontrols
 
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