Let Your Fans Do The Work

Yes, you heard. It's tough to gain followers in this cut-throat world of music, so we'd all be very stupid not to utilise the support we have. We ALL have support, if you don't have 20,000 followers on Twitter or Facebook, don't make the mistake of thinking nobody cares enough to help you out, even if it's friends and family, our methods will help you getting people to spread the word on your behalf.

1. Social Networking - It has to be said that spending all of your time trying to promote yourself on Facebook or Twitter is absolutely useless. Don't obsess, and please don't spam people, or bombard them with suggestions, status updates and links every minute, nobody's going to care. However, in moderation, and used constructively, social networking sites can be useful. Ask your friends, family and fans to invite their friends to a Facebook page, maybe this can be mutual, if they have something they'd like to promote, repay the favour, this helps both of you get your name out, and usually builds your reputation locally. Once you have people as fans, though, use them wisely, don't lose their interest.

2. Who do I know? - Sometimes it can be easy to overlook what your friends and families actually do, as jobs or hobbies, and how this can help you. Maybe you have a friend who works in the media, or even attends a university with a good music scene. Think it through, how can your contacts help? Ask them to pass on a demo or put up a poster somewhere useful. It will surprise you how far this could get you.

3. Merch - Get some Merchandise made! It all helps spread your name. It doesn't have to be T-Shirts. Badges, pens and posters can all be good, cheap ways of getting your band name in peoples houses and offices. Sell them for a small price at gigs, or give them away. I'm not implying that somebody will see your name on a badge and instantly buy your CD, or look you up online, but the more times they hear it, the more likely they are to pay some damn attention!

4. Demos - If you haven't already recorded demos (and recorded them WELL thankyou very much), do so, and don't think they're just for all those important people at the radio stations and record labels. Give them to your friends, give two to a friend and encourage them to recommend it to someone. Not only is it a nice gesture, especially if they're going to help you with promotion, it increases the chances that somebody is going to listen to your music. Get on it.

Music Consumption Habits

When you boil it down, all Music Promotion really consists of is trying to make somebody give your tunes a chance. Obviously you have this beautiful blog to help you with your promotion methods, but amidst all the techniques we talk about, there's something we haven't really covered yet - listening habits.

The inspiration for this blog post came when I decided to listen to a band for the first time. I first heard of the band in question just before christmas, I was working in a record store at the time, and saw their C.D. - that was the extent of my interest, and I thought nothing of them, until a few months down the line, I heard one of their songs on the radio, I was doing something else at the time (eating or preparing food probably) and didn't pay a lot of attention (maybe there was pesto in the fridge, and it made me all the more excited about my sandwich) but I managed to catch the name of the band, draw a link, and somewhere in my subconscious keep this information stored. Next thing that happened? I heard that Johnny Marr had gone and seen this particular band on tour. Now, this part of the sequence was a recommendation, and though my theory as to the acceptance of new music is in its fledgling stages, I've worked out that this section is key. I can draw a direct link through my music collection based on recommendation, when I was 14, I started listening to Radiohead, I heard Thom Yorke talk about David Byrne and started listening to Talking Heads, I also heard him talking about Aphex Twin, through Aphex Twin I heard about Warp Records, Boards of Canada followed, Clark and Autechre took me to a music festival where I heard Modeselektor...and well, you get the picture. Shall I complete the sequence? I heard the band in question again yesterday, on a sporting montage sequence of all things, but this time, I had heard enough hype about the band, and in a roundabout way been recommended the band, so I payed attention. The song was really good, and somewhere in my head they've been added to a list of good music, and funnily enough that list is tied directly to my iTunes, and more unfortunately, my bank account.

The point I'm trying to make here is that for me, music has to prove itself before I even listen to it, and I'm sure it's the same for others. It's not intentional, nor is it a way to pigeonhole myself, and make sure I'm only getting one type of music on my iPod, but when you consider the shear volume of music available to us, I think it's only fair that something has to stand out. I'm sure there are exceptions, and people who are very active in their search for new music may listen to things and develop an opinion the first time they've heard of it, but what percentage of fans are going to come looking for you? Not many is the answer.

So how can we work around this theory of having to prove yourself? Or even use it to our advantage? Well you need to start with quality of course, nobody is going to recommend something they don't like. But if your tunes are up to scratch, perseverance is key. Having targeted an audience, you need to find them in more ways than one, 'cos one wont be enough. I think people need to hear about you three times to give you a chance. So, if you can get yourself in three blogs somebody may read, or somebody they know becomes a fan on facebook and you get in two blogs they read, or you get on a radio station they listen to and two blogs...Well you get it, people will very rarely hear about something once and think it's worthy of their attention, make sure they hear about you a few times. This doesn't have to be tough either, you don't exactly have to get on television - just persevere on Facebook (but don't be a pest), if it takes three invitations to three separate gigs of yours for them to press the play button, then so be it, don't spam, don't ask people to listen every three seconds, just persevere and be patient.

Make sense?

Good.