Taking the Self-Promotion route...

  • Thread starter Thread starter mjr
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mjr

mjr

ADD -- blessing and curse
All,

I'm beginning to focus some serious time on finishing my debut CD. I have decided to take the "self-promotion" route, to get my name out (initially). I'll be doing all the guitar tracks (electric, acoustic, and bass), keyboard, vocals, and relying on CakeWalk for my drums.

As far as marketing and promotion, what advice can be given? I don't have a band, so it's difficult to play at various places.

I will probably start out with about 100 CDs (99 actually, one is going on my wall, kind of an "accomplishment" thing). Many of those will be given away, and some will be mailed to A&R people at legitimate record companies (as many as I can here in the Dallas area), and possibly some radio stations. After that, I'll probably do another run of 100 - 200, depending on how high I feel demand is.

Another thing I've considered doing, once my website is finished, is putting up a "press kit" on my site, and some black & white photos, and some 30-second snippets of a song or two. Maybe do an autograph signing, and give away a few singles in the process.

I've also considered T-shirts, bumper stickers, local newspaper advertisements, and so forth.

I've ruled out selling the CD for $15 - $20, unless production costs warrant so (they shouldn't, since I'm the sole songwriter, copyright holder, and musician on the album, and the artwork was free). The only real costs I will incur would be the costs of the CDs and the costs of jewel cases, paper, and printing.

Thoughts/advice? Is there anything I'm missing? Is there anything I should/shouldn't do?
 
one piece of advice i would give would be to get rid of the 30 second clips and put up a couple whole songs... that way people can show those songs to friends if they like it and put them on a mixed cd.
 
will probably start out with about 100 CDs (99 actually, one is going on my wall, kind of an "accomplishment" thing). Many of those will be given away, and some will be mailed to A&R people at legitimate record companies (as many as I can here in the Dallas area), and possibly some radio stations. After that, I'll probably do another run of 100 - 200, depending on how high I feel demand is.

I hope you have a good lawyer, agent or inside contact. Most unsolicited materials that get sent to record companies get sent back or thrown in the trash. Unless you have a lawyer representing you most big record companies won’t touch you with a ten foot pole for legal reasons.

Some smaller independent labels (that aren’t a branch of a big record company) will accept unsolicited demos. Most of these labels have a niche styles they specialize in. (i.e. Metal Blade before they sold out, Relativity started as a guitar virtuoso label) My advice is find one that fits your music style and make contact with them to see if they will accept unsolicited demos.

If you do get an opportunity to send your CD to a label, don’t send the entire thing. Print the CD yourself and either buy a Press Kit folder with a CD holder in it, or buy some jewel cases and CD label printing packages (most are under $20.00) and do it yourself. Pick your best three songs and put them on there.

Most record label exes and A&R people don’t have time to listen to an entire CD. The biggest mistake most new artist make according to an article in Guitar World (interviewing a hot independent label owner) is that people will send CDs and say “you’ll really dig tracks 3, 8 and 12. Why are you wasting my time, why not just send me tracks 3, 8 and 12.”

If their interested they’ll contact you. If they want to hear more they’ll ask. But sending an entire CD’s worth a music is almost a sure guarantee that you’ll be put in the wait list file, if not the trash. If your Press Kit has all the information on it, chances are they won’t even look at your jewel case.

Another important tip: put your contact info on the CD. I've heard horror stories of Press Kits getting separtated from demos and the lable not knowing how to contact the person. This is more important than a flashy CD label. Plus it shows you mean business. Put your name, address, phone number, e-mail and website on the CD.

Bottom line: make it as easy for the contact as you can. Make your presention clear, clean, short and sweet. And remember the first rule of show biz: always leave them wanting more.

Another thing I've considered doing, once my website is finished, is putting up a "press kit" on my site, and some black & white photos, and some 30-second snippets of a song or two. Maybe do an autograph signing, and give away a few singles in the process.

A good website is key these days. Make sure it’s done right. In fact my old bands biggest mistake is that we had our product out before we even had the website finished. Plus it helps you with contacts. If your press kit gets lost in the mail you can always give someone a website address.

I concur with Axis. Put a few entire songs on there as well as a place to buy the CD and even the opportunity to buy it on-line using a credit card. (Pay Pal comes to mind) In fact if possible give someone the opportunity to download the entire CD. (using a password verified by payment) You don’t need a record store to sell your CD’s anymore. In fact the easier you can make it to get it in the consumer’s hands, the better chance their going to buy it.

I've also considered T-shirts, bumper stickers, local newspaper advertisements, and so forth.

Unless you’re playing live I would hold off on all that. T-shirts and bumper stickers tend to be a point of purchase item people buy at shows when they have left over beer money or they think a logo is cool. Wait until you have a small following and then print some up for your fans to show their support. Newspaper ads can get expensive and get looked over.

What might be better calling around to the music papers and local college papers and asking who does the new music reviews. Ask if you can submit a CD for review. Now they may not review it or they may rip it to shreds. But most critics are musicians or fans themselves and tend to be kind to kindred spirits. And a free well written review raving about your CD is worth twice as much as an ad would be. Telling someone to buy your music isn't half as poweful as someone else telling them to go out and buy it.

Hope this helps, good luck.
 
the edzell said:
will probably start out with about 100 CDs (99 actually, one is going on my wall, kind of an "accomplishment" thing). Many of those will be given away, and some will be mailed to A&R people at legitimate record companies (as many as I can here in the Dallas area), and possibly some radio stations. After that, I'll probably do another run of 100 - 200, depending on how high I feel demand is.

I hope you have a good lawyer, agent or inside contact. Most unsolicited materials that get sent to record companies get sent back or thrown in the trash. Unless you have a lawyer representing you most big record companies won’t touch you with a ten foot pole for legal reasons.
Click to expand...

This is absolutely true! My girlfriend works in the litigation department of one of the largest record labels. She says A&R is not even allowed to listen to demos that don't come via attorney or manager.
 
Make sure to send that demo disc (or the whole thing) to your local non-clearchannel radio station. College and Public Radio is a great way to get your stuff heard.

You can also ask a local shop (ie, NOT BestBuy/SamGoody) to keep a couple discs on consignment, (usually 50/50) and tell people they can purchase it there.
 
Axis said:
one piece of advice i would give would be to get rid of the 30 second clips and put up a couple whole songs... that way people can show those songs to friends if they like it and put them on a mixed cd.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

I released a free piece of software called "Music Virus" that you might find helpful. Go to www.download.com to get it.

What this does is attaches a message to your song that says something like, "Purchase this CD at CD Baby." People hear the clip, hopefully like it, and then go buy it. It also lets you edit the ID3 tags, so they can go right to your order page.
 
mjr said:
As far as marketing and promotion, what advice can be given? I don't have a band, so it's difficult to play at various places.
Click to expand...

Can't you do a solo gig? You're leaving money on the table by not playing out.

Nowhere else can you reach so many people at once...and have them pay you to do it.
 
Solo Gig...

Oh, I'm sure I could put on a couple of solo gigs. I'm sure if I look around enough I can find a place to play a solo gig. I've been contemplating possibly doing one here at the apartment complex I live at. That being said, I need to work out some logistics (mainly power for my amps/microphone [my complex doesn't have an 'outdoor' electric outlet], whether or not I should "charge" for it, and whether or not I should sell CDs or give away singles).
 
yea man it's not easy being solo. i've played at an acoustic open-mic, but other than that it's really hard to get gigs. i put a record out last year and just passed it around to anybody i could. there's a handful of people diggin my music and that's good enough for me at this point. im not really in a postition to be giving advice, just thought i'd share my story. good luck dude.
 
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