I'm here in Oakland to participate in the Music Business Seminar presented by California Lawyers for the Arts. The vibe of the conference is great. An eclectic group of participants, diverse, young, old, only a few lawyers, so mostly musicians/artist and producers.
The panel that's just starting is about grass-roots marketing strategies. Moderator is attorney Michael Acszon, and the panelists are Marshall Lamm, Kerry Fiero, and Jocelyn Kane. These are my notes.
The first question is how should I use the internet to market my band?
Marshall says that whenever someone comes up to him and asks the question "how can I get a gig", his first question back is "where's your website". The site (or even a MySpace page) needs to have at minimum: video, audio, photos, chatrooms/forums, and continuously be updated.
Jocelyn: thinks you have to have something beyond MySpace. It needs ot be clean and updated, and you need to think of it as one tool in the toolkit of marketing. The site is an important part of your EPK (electronic press kit). You have to have an independent stylized website that is professional.
Kerry: Sees the internet as one of the many things that you have to do to market your band. Whether your a company, producer, or artist, you have to have your own domain name, and your own professional site. In thinking about how you market yourself on the internet, think about "who are you marketing to?" Your website is for the people who can help you advance your career, the professionals. Your MySpace page is "for your homies."
Michael stresses how important your first impression is. Marshall - says what's important is to get events. Pay the $100 bucks to secure a location and have a great event. If it's a CD Release Party, etc. The most important thing is to provide "food and booze". It's the most important thing. Another key is if yoiu're going to have a CD Release Concert, make it a CONCERT! Do something serious. Put on a show. Get dancers, get a horn section, make it great. Don't just get up there in jeans and a t-shirt like you did at Bottom of the Hill the last weekend. You have to think that way, and if you don't, your audience won't feel it. Example: when Marshall started his company, he had a party that wasn't too expensive. He got wine from Costco, had a couple bands come ($150), La Salsa catered it (cheap but good!). People remember it.
Jocelyn: Marketing is a broad term. The way she approaches it, a show or event is what she calls "promotion" (it relates to butts in seats), which is a part of marketing "marketing." Advertising is another part of marketing (placing ads, you buying the ad and speaking about you). Publicity is an important part, and it's specifically about having others talk about you. Publicity is free, and invaluable, but very different from advertising.
Kerry: When you're creating a CD Release party, it has to be something special. You have to start with quality - pay a rehearsal hall, get quality musicians, care about what you wear, consider paying the other musicians for the rehearsal, give gift bags (often can be free, just needs someone to put them together), spend some money on nice invitations to industry professionals that you want to have come (give them a +1).
Marshall: This is your chance to get into the papers, get the radio stations to play your stuff, and get them to learn your style.
Dos/Donts:
-Kerry: Don't ever email blast with putting everyone's name on the ist. Put them on the BCC line! (1) Don't spend all your marketing dollars on one thing. You have to do everything. (3) Do network. And do follow through.
-Marshall: If you say you're going to call someone, call them at the time. If you say you're going to meet someone, meet them and be 5 minutes early. If you say you're going to send something, send it right away, and just send what you say you're going to call. This is a professional thing. Be polite, be appreciative.
-Jocelyn: It's very important to know your demographic. It's important to research, be smart, to know how to spend your money. In the end, you just want to figure out who's responding to your music, project or whatever you're doing. Mass marketing is often ineffective if you don't reach to the right people. You need to know what your target spends money on, where they hang out.
-Michael: Don't assume you can get into someone's inner circle by sending them one email. For example, he get's emails from people that start out with "dude". What's more important than making the recipient think your project is special, is making that person feel special. It's good to have fun, but be very respectful of the people who you work with.
What's a street team made of, and how effective is it?
Kerry has hired street teams that haven't done what they are supposed to do. You need to identify very clearly who you are trying to market to. You have to tell them exactly where to go, be at the right concert hall to catch people leaving a show that would be your audience.
[there were a few other topics, and some questions from the audience... ]
Question from audience member, Ann Blankenship, asked what we think of ___. She uses the service to find out what's playing at a given time. Marshall like the service too, as . Ruben Alberon.
Question: Is it ever too soon to market yourselves:
Jocelyn says it's never too early. Micahel says you have to approach someone
Question: Angie from Clockwork. At what point do you as managers/publicits like to take up a group.
Kerry wants to see you once the momentum has already begun with you. You've already taken the initiative and you know what you want to achieve. Kerry wants to step in and bring it to the next level. Marshall only wants to work with people if they've already got gigs set up in a number of cities and have a CD done. Jocelyn thinks they want to do the good work, and don't want to do the crappy work for the little money, but once you've got . Most often, agents will find you when you're ready. Michael says, everybody's different. He's worked with artists for varying lengths of time. One example he's worked with someone for 20 years who's just now getting the record of his life out, and playing at Yoshi's. Another example is that he was in touch with an artist for 10 years before anything was happening to work together, and then they worked another 10 years to get things up and running.
James: Moanin Dove - local band. Question about how to get taken seriously?
Pick a fake name for your booking agent, and have it be your
Jocelyn says this is a DIY world we're in. If you're professional, you can do it your self and she disagrees that you have to have a fake name for your "booking agent" etc.
Last bits of advice from the panelists:
Jocelyn: It's that you're here. It says a lot about your interest and taking the time to meet and network with as many people as you can, then pick a number in your head about meeting people. Don't burn out. If it becomes too much for you for a while, take a break and get away from it for a while.
Marshall: Take a step back if what you're doing isn't working. The thing about show biz is that there's the business side (legal, presentation, etc.) and be serious about it. Have a goal, keep with it, stick to it, and know that it's not easy. Good resources here at CLA. Keep it serious, and keep it light hearted, and remanber that this is something you've chosen to do.
Kerry: The best marketing tool of all is passion and enthusiasm. You'll be contageous and people will want to get behind your project. Check out her calendar on her website for information about all the marketing possible events to network.
Michael: be patient enought to plant your roses now, for later.