J
Jeptha
New member
ME: I find the “demos rarely work” an interesting thread. Maybe we can all learn by exploring this “buzz” phenomenon a little more in detail.
“I agree with almost all you said. For a band (or single artist) it is almost mandatory that you first create a local buzz, and then a regional buzz - and that is best achieved by playing college towns and eventually at the colleges.”
ME: I kind of agree, but I think you need to start from the top down. Last year me and some friends had some good luck with a national release and I think I’ve got this indie stuff figured out. Maybe you guys who have actually tried this can add some pointers.
We sent a great gospel song cut in my hometown to many of the charting stations. We then sent notices to all of the fans in those towns that had seen our performer in the past (we keep records and keep up with them via a free newsletter) asking them to call the radio station and request the song. Finally, it cost us 2000 bucks to hire a girl that does this for a living. She began to call the individual DJs just asking them to give it a listen. They did! We charted to number 3 in the Chicago/Rockford market and number 10 in the Denver market. Of course, anyone could do this as well as the girl we hired did.
Then it fizzled. But it gave our performer a major lift in some major markets. And we sold tons of CD’s and tapes off the web-site and at live performances. Watch our smoke (I hope) in the next release which will hit next week.
That first release also got our guy some Grammy winning producers for this last cut. Another thing I have learned. If you’re song is much over 3 minutes in length, you won’t get air play. Comments on how/how not to release a ditty?
“I agree with almost all you said. For a band (or single artist) it is almost mandatory that you first create a local buzz, and then a regional buzz - and that is best achieved by playing college towns and eventually at the colleges.”
ME: I kind of agree, but I think you need to start from the top down. Last year me and some friends had some good luck with a national release and I think I’ve got this indie stuff figured out. Maybe you guys who have actually tried this can add some pointers.
We sent a great gospel song cut in my hometown to many of the charting stations. We then sent notices to all of the fans in those towns that had seen our performer in the past (we keep records and keep up with them via a free newsletter) asking them to call the radio station and request the song. Finally, it cost us 2000 bucks to hire a girl that does this for a living. She began to call the individual DJs just asking them to give it a listen. They did! We charted to number 3 in the Chicago/Rockford market and number 10 in the Denver market. Of course, anyone could do this as well as the girl we hired did.
Then it fizzled. But it gave our performer a major lift in some major markets. And we sold tons of CD’s and tapes off the web-site and at live performances. Watch our smoke (I hope) in the next release which will hit next week.
That first release also got our guy some Grammy winning producers for this last cut. Another thing I have learned. If you’re song is much over 3 minutes in length, you won’t get air play. Comments on how/how not to release a ditty?