Comments on: 20 things to do while you’re waiting for your fans to show up

By: amuzikman

amuzikman — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:24:31 +0000

Yeah, I figured

Though it is funny to observe those who try to sidestep my #1 and proceed directly to marketing and promotion.

BTW – thanks for the great info

By: michael

michael — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:06:04 +0000

I assumed that we were starting right after your point #1. I was directing this at musicians who knew how to do the musician part, but were failing at figuring out the “what next?” part.

If the music part sucks, then you have to be really, REALLY good at the marketing part.

By: amuzikman

amuzikman — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:46:29 +0000

One rather glaring omission, which should be #1:
Be excellent at your craft. Everything else follows from that,(though I suspect it is mentioned somewhere here on a previous post and this one simply presupposes it). There is NO substitute for personal musical excellence.

Another way of putting it is: There is ALWAYS room at the top! Don’t let anything come between you working hard to be the very best musician you can.

Internet and marketing savvy is a very poor substitute for musical excellence but it makes a great partner.

By: Toni Hickman

Toni Hickman — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:44:30 +0000

This is an article that will be bookmarked for a long time.I am a artist that was signed to a major, but never put my album out.I was about to put it out, but I had a brain aneurysm. And then went on to have several write ups in magazines and had another Brain Aneurysm + a stroke before I turned 30.I haven’t given up because I never accomplished my goal.
Now I am going the independent route, and I do think that this list is very important!The days are over when the record label is doing all the ground work for you.Money does make an easier transition, but I also believe promoting your story in turn promotes you.Thanks so much for this article!

By: Joe No

Joe No — Wed, 06 May 2009 07:55:16 +0000

M- Most informative. Your article has a permanent place in my ‘favorites’…”The two best ways to make it in the business are to buy your way in or get a relative in the business to pave the way for you” I don’t think anyone who is observant could deny that there is definitely some truth in that statement but I also agree with Chad’s take. Luckily, there are some people who achieve success through hard work and tenacious dedication. Jimi Hendrix’s life story is a good mainstream example of this and well illustrated in “Roomful of Mirrors” by C. Cross (that just happens to be the biography I’ve been reading but there are others). Cheers & Thank You -J

By: Chad

Chad — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:11:31 +0000

Hi Maxx.

The person who wrote this article has experienced significant success as a musician. He earns a living as a musician, as do I.

Your tone is pretty shrill, homes. Are your songs any good? To quote the great John Lasseter — “Quality is just always a great business plan.”

By: Maxx

Maxx — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 07:36:32 +0000

I am a musician and I have played over 120 shows in the last 2 years. Most of these articles are not written by successful musicians so take them with a grain of salt.

The two best ways to make it in the business are to buy your way in or get a relative in the business to pave the way for you. That is why there are so many mediocrities who are “successful” if your yard stick is money, but utter failures as far as composition and arrangement are concerned.

If your not rich or related to the right people you can try all the stuff on this list. Some of it is good advice for the desparate poor band. Skip the flyers and street promo crap if you are playing the clubs. The money spent will not yield returns. Internet advertising is better (cheap) but still fairly poor compared to radio (expensive), and if your daddy is really rich . . . television.

The street promotion can drum up a few people and so can the internet. Again, if you are playing clubs don’t expect to make any money. People go to bars to drink not buy merchandise. Sales will be slow (even if you are good) because your product is being pitched in the wrong market. Bars sell liquor. Clubs are liquor’s market, except well known clubs that book midrange acts. With gas hitting $3.50 a gallon say goodbye to even covering expenses.

Don’t get discouraged if your goal is making music. If it is making money then good luck.

By: priz

priz — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:26:32 +0000

very dope article, lot of valid points here

By: Chad

Chad — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:03:35 +0000

Eeeeennnnteresting.

By: michael lee

michael lee — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 07:54:03 +0000

cool – so, this thing got picked up by StumbleUpon, and it’s getting like 1,000 hits a day this week.

By: Dharamsi

Dharamsi — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 04:16:57 +0000

fanbridge.com
Great service for the Musicians and Bands.
You must include in your list too. It helps musicians manage their fan list and also does much more.

By: Robbi

Robbi — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 08:06:00 +0000

Thanks so much for that, it’s given me a lot og help!! :]

Robbi

http://www.myspace.com/robbimcmillen
http://www.robbimcmillen.com
&Thanks for the Tunecore link, I’m now on iTunes! :]

By: Mary Ruth

Mary Ruth — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 03:33:32 +0000

Wow – this is a great list! I think the only thing missing from it is that you also have to believe in yourself, maintaining a “can-do” mindset even when things don’t necessarily seem to be going how you want them to go. Thanks for the article!

By: It’s Getting Hot In Here! Latest Music Marketing Developments | Evolvor

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 07:17:57 +0000

[...] A post over at Addison Road made me really jealous as it’s one I’ve been meaning to do for some time. I promise I’ll put one together that blows it outta the water soon, but in the meantime, here is one of the most important articles you’ll read while you’re waiting for the fans to show up. [...]

By: Kieran Purcell

Kieran Purcell — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 16:18:39 +0000

A great peice of information. Lots of good ideas in there that aren’t obvious. Once you have finished making your music you kind of think, “phew, the hard works over”, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Thats when the hard work starts.

This makes it a bit easier though, thanks for writing it.

Peace,
kpa

http://www.myspace.com/thekpa

By: Mark Brooks

Mark Brooks — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 19:02:56 +0000

Hey Michael,
I came across this post and it’s great. I wanted to let you know about FanBridge, which helps musicians manage their fan list. It would be perfect for #14 on your list because we can do targeting by zip code and radius.

Thanks,
Mark
http://www.FanBridge.com

By: michael lee

michael lee — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 05:18:13 +0000

Boston Globe on this same topic: Artist, Promote Thyself

By: Jarah Jane

Jarah Jane — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 22:27:09 +0000

Awesome!!!!!!

Now that’s what i call great reading :)
I’ve definately been pushing it hard but now i really get it ;)

Thank you so much!

~Jarah.

http://www.jarahjane.com

By: michael lee

michael lee — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:58:33 +0000

[quote comment="104916"]Now you’re talking my language! … While much of it has been updated to reflect contemporary technology, the fundamentals are still the same and apply to everything from marketing products to marketing ourselves. [/quote]

The fundamentals are the fundamentals. Nothing much changes.

Apart from just the options that the technology affords, I think the internet age is giving rise to one aspect of marketing that has new critical importance: the idea of community as part of the product experience.

People who like the band TV On The Radio (I like to pick on them) aren’t just part of the fan community because they like the band, they are there because they like being part of that specific community. The interaction with other fans is part of the product. The internet allows people from wide geographic reaches to participate together in that aspect of being a band fan.

People are already calling the iPhone the perfect product launch. In huge part, that was due to the community that built up around the idea of the product well before the product itself was even available. Jobs has clearly mastered that kind of buzz creation, but he didn’t invent the concept; people want to feel like they are part of something larger than themselves. They like being part of the community of people talking about the product.

I think a large part of the drive behind indie music is the desire to feel like a part of something larger than yourself that’s also counterculture and oddly elitist. The community aspect is critical.

By: ryancathey

ryancathey — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:54:38 +0000

Another avenue, though slow, is pandora.com. It is a personally “tuned” radio station based on the Music Genome Project started in 2000. You can suggest music to be analyzed and added to their HUGE catalogue.

It’s pretty cool how it works in that they have actual Musicologists that analyze a song based on over 400 criteria in order to categorize it.

So let’s say your band sounds a lot like Hambone Willie (it would be really funny if there were actually a band named this). Well if someone is listening to their “Hambone Willie” radio station on pandora, your song might come up in the mix and thus, you would be getting exposure to a fanbase that already likes this style of music. They even have links to buy the music from major retailers.

Even if you don’t put your band’s music on pandora, It’s still a great site. I use it everyday.