self promotion.....when 17 years old

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antispatula

antispatula

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I'm going to record an album soon. I'm going to be a senior in highschool.

How does one my age get exposure? I know there's the internet and stuff, but it would seem the best way to get people to listen is doing shows......In your expirience, is this correct?

Are venues where minors can play common? I live near San Fransisco.

How has myspace influenced your album sales? How mant cds have you sold on myspace?

Thanks!
 
I'll help out where I can. I've been going through marketing ideas as well.

At your age, it'll be a little more difficult. Doing it on a budget will be difficult, but here are a few things:

1. If you want to play somewhere, you'll either have to find a "family" establishment, an "under 21" club that has an open mic night, or an establishment like a book/music store (like Borders or something) or a Starbucks. I don't know what kind of music you're planning on doing, but in a venue like that be prepared to break out the acoustic guitar, because it's doubtful (but always probable) that they'll have a stage setup, or even allow you to use an amplifier. Bring a few of your CDs with you. Make sure you get the manager's permission as well.

2. Go to the mall. Ask around at the various music stores if you can leave some promo/marketing materials (see #3 for that). If they say yes, leave some.

3. Print up promo/marketing materials, if you can. If you're on a limited (or no) budget, you can do it yourself (with your computer and a good printer). Just design some marketing materials. Maybe a photo of you, your web address (this is IMPORTANT, a good web presence can help your marketing!), and ANY other contact info you can think of (hint: do NOT give your personal home address, stick to a phone number or email). Create them in such a way that they're attractive, and small.

For some other tips, try http://www.musicbizacademy.com. I've gone there, and they have some pretty good tips and ideas.
 
@ 17, AND being a senior in High School, you have an advantage in some ways, you have your entire school to plaster flyers/advertisments around without consiquence, you have people around constantly who can create a street team that will begin to build a good following.

where your disadvantages lie are where you can play (as stated above) in some cases.

I have played in bars and 21+ clubs with bands that were only 16-17. the problem here is they cant target the proper audience, your best bet would be to advertise like crazy long before you start playing out, create a buzz around school, and if you have friends in other schools, have them spread the word there too. then, get someone (parent, friend) to rent out a VFW type hall, and get 4 or 5 other friends bands to play it, if you have any way of getting a band that is a little more established and can market the older crowd, bring them in as a headliner. If the show starts ends early enough, most of these bands wont mind headlineing, theyw ill only get pissed if you put them on 12-1am when YOUR crowd has already left. so make it a day time thing (5pm-10/11pm) out them on around 9/10pm and make sure kids stick around for them. this will get you a good mix of all ages people to come see you, charge 5$ at the door to pay for the hall/pa(if you need to pay for hte pa) and split the rest up among the bands. do this once a month or so, then start getting the more established bands to bring you into clubs/bars with them. You may not be allowed to stick around after your set (sometimes you can here in MA, your just not allowed near the bar) but it will get you infront of a bigger, older audience, that has a slightly higher income, so when you are 18, adn can play the bars/clubs w/o as many restrictions, they already know who you are.

Hopefully this helps
-C$
 
being in high school is really a benefit - as stated in previous post - the school is your stompin grounds for fans, street team and all . . . dont let "club" venues be a disadvantage - any body at the school throwin friday night parties? hit em up and do a show there!!! - put on an "impropmtu" show in the bleachers at thebasketball, football game . . . the high school is like . . . a peal in your hand - not in the clam!!

heck - go from 1 school to the next - people always no some 1 else at another school - THATS NETWORKING - have them work as your affiliate - tellin the other school "this dude from X hi school is good!!! yalll need to check him out"

from 1 school to the next to the next - if u got the balls for it - battle dudes from various schools at their game nights (basketball bleachers, football bleachers on fri. nights) if not - tell em u wanna do collabos and make a whole "circuit" out of it!!!

club venues are not always what people think they are - as long as u got a crowd in front of u - u have a show to do!!!
 
open mic nights at any venue or bar! most of them will say no minors but if you're playing they most likely won't care, they just don't want you trying to get beer from people.

myspace helps sometimes, but most bands that use it for publicity just get 100,000 friends that don't give a shit about them instead of a few hundred that actually care and want to know about news/shows.
 
Open Mic isn't the only way to go... Times have changed a little.

I was in a band that just broke up a few months ago. Now where I live, we have plenty of venues both big and small that book just about any band that comes their way. It's not hard to find a place to play, just have to know where to look.

In my case, it was this place called the Webster that booked big and small shows. They had their main stage, and then a side stage for smaller bands. All you have to do with venues like this is email their booking department people and ask for a list of open dates. Usually they'll send you a list of about 20 dates that relates to your music and will let you pick which ones you're interested in. That's what happened with my band.

My suggestion would be to find local bands with the same style of music as you, and find out where they play their shows. Then contact the people who run the venue and ask to be booked.

Honestly, I think the people above me are making it sound a little more difficult than it really is.
 
Dude, The webster kicks ass, Were playing there with genetorturers in Oct i think, gonna be sick. we played ther with Dope in July, and hopefully with Bile when they come back around. Venues like this are a great way to get a LOT of people to hear your music and see what you do live with only a little bit of publicity work on your part, just sell 15 tickets and bam, 100-200 are watching you do what you love to do.

But i still stand by what i said above, it is important to bust your ass no matter how old you are or what kind of music you play. espescialy if your just starting out.

Good luck to you dude, let us know how it all works out, hey pst a link to your band, Id love to hear you guys!

-C$

PS
FLYERS FLYERS FLYERS FLYERS FLYERS FLYERS.... did I mention make a LOT of FLYERS? and out them up EVERYWHERE.. oh yea, and get a few flyers too
:)


RFrecordings said:
Open Mic isn't the only way to go... Times have changed a little.

I was in a band that just broke up a few months ago. Now where I live, we have plenty of venues both big and small that book just about any band that comes their way. It's not hard to find a place to play, just have to know where to look.

In my case, it was this place called the Webster that booked big and small shows. They had their main stage, and then a side stage for smaller bands. All you have to do with venues like this is email their booking department people and ask for a list of open dates. Usually they'll send you a list of about 20 dates that relates to your music and will let you pick which ones you're interested in. That's what happened with my band.

My suggestion would be to find local bands with the same style of music as you, and find out where they play their shows. Then contact the people who run the venue and ask to be booked.

Honestly, I think the people above me are making it sound a little more difficult than it really is.
Click to expand...
 
hold up i don't know what state your in but here in lousiana an on-stage entertainer or performer can enter any club or bar as long as they have their own security. Their is no age limitations on performers... just my .02
 
Self-promotion really boils down to 2 things:

1. Producing (making good music) If your music isn't good enough to sell it never will no matter how well you market it. Also getting your CD labels designed, and CDs duplicated, usually starting at about 500-1000 copies depending on how much you plan on selling.

And just because you think your music is good, and your mom thinks it's good, doesn't mean it is good to most people. Try submitting your songs to www.GarageBand.com for review, and then decide which songs are good/bad, and base your album off of those reviews. You could try other sites as well but I've found GarageBand to be the most brutally honest when it comes to reviewing songs.

2. Advertising - This is the next most important thing. With the internet these days, it just makes it even easier. There's several places to advertise online, or simply put your CD up for sale. CDBaby, Amazon, iTunes, PureVolume.com, GarageBand.com, MySpace.com, NoWhereRadio, SoundClick, etc. If you are serious about it you would submit it to every one of these sites, and more if you can find them.

This also includes playing live shows, which doesn't reach as many people, but can get things started, and you can grow locally. You can find out where other bands play, and maybe do an opening song or something for one of their shows, and pass some CDs around afterwards.

Maybe even put a few of your best songs on a P2P/filesharing service like LimeWire or the like. If you ever make it big, they'll end up there anyway.

These are just ideas, hopefully they will help get you started in the right direction.
 
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