Street Promotion

• Street teams are it! – gather people in cities you will tour, who are fans of yours to help promote you before you come to town. You’ll find that your fans will work twice as hard for you if you give them and their friends some free passes or maybe even CDs.

• Flyer handouts – hand out gig notices and CD release flyers to people on the street, outside other performances. If you play Brazilian music, find a hot Brazilian music concert and flyer away!

• Posters at venues – put up posters at venues you’re going to play at.

• Rallying fans – entice your fans to help you spread the word and offer cool merch, swag and CDs in return. They like to feel special. 

Some Keys To Becoming A Successful Artist

Invest in your act.  Learn how to play your instrument.  Connect with
your fans.  Make True Blue Fans! Put tons of images and photos on your 

Website.  Don't give up to go to law school.  There are NO OPTIONS if you want to make it in the music business.

But today a video won't buy you much.  All the old nineties
tools...you can employ them, but you come up empty-handed.  It's a new
music business now.  It's about bands and fans.  It's about
relationships.  That's what the Web offers.  All those assholes who
lost their jobs running labels who said that no act ever broke on the
Internet just don't understand that THEIR kind of act hasn't broken on
the Net, a ubiquitous superstar...but acts are breaking.  Rather,
they're building.  Growing.  Into sustainable entities.  And it takes
A LONG FRIGGING TIME!!

The whiners are gone.  The easy money is history.  Only the lifers
remain, the people who NEED to be in the music business.  And they're
working with acts with the same passion they possess.

And that's what it's about, PASSION!  Hearing that record and needing
not to buy it on iTunes, but STEAL IT, because you just don't have
enough money to feed your music addiction.

The old players have got it all wrong.  It's not about a walled
garden, charging a fortune for admission.  It's a matter of connecting
with people, making music that they want to hear forever.  They'll
give you all the money they've got.  The most passionate down loaders
are the most passionate concertgoers, they'll even buy the CD to hear
the music of their favorite bands in a PRISTINE FASHION!  But they
want the privilege of being able to surf and find new acts.  They're
always in search of greatness.  They're fed up with the pabulum that's
been fed to them by the media manipulators.

A successful career is not about impressions any long....bands are
sold by word of mouth, one fan to the next. And you can no longer
manufacture buzz.  Buzz has got to be real.  Because there are people
out to bust you for your shenanigans, and most don't have time to pay
attention anyway. But if people find something good, they'll give it
ALL their attention.

That glow from the show?  That high you had for twenty four hours?
That's what cemented your FANDOM.  It had nothing to do with the
backdrops, the special effects, but the vibe, the music.

The music is king once again.  You don't have to look good, you just
have to play/sing well and have something to say.

Will vapid pop stars continue to be flogged?  OF COURSE!  But there
will be fewer and fewer, because it's almost impossible to make any
dough doing that anymore.  You need a 360 deal and advertisements and
movies...  It's damn hard.

But if you make one great record, and you're in it for the long haul,
and you can wait for the virus to spread, you can play music for the
rest of your life.  You may not own a Rolls.  Your mother's friends
might not know who you are.  But when you hit the stage, you're going
to hear a roar of appreciation that will put a grin on your face just
like when your first grade teacher gave you a compliment.  You're
gonna feel like life's worth living.  Because you know what you mean
to these people.  You're part of their lives.  You help them get
through.  You have a RELATIONSHIP!

No relationship, no future.

Forget branding, forget sponsorship, forget placement.  Focus on
music.  Great music finds its own way.

===============================================

PS: I love that word: FANDOM .... OUR KEY TO SUCCESS!!  FANDOM!!! equals True Blue Loyal Fans (TBLF)

Music and Social Media Networking Events

Yes, they can help out a struggling INDIE artist as long as they realize most of these events are attending by establish social networking gurus.  Most of these gurus are there to 'protect' their turf against outsiders.  By this I mean, there are groups of well know music folks around America that do the 'scratch' my back and I'll 'scratch' your back routine.  Any new person or group with as good or better ideas is shunned on and talked about in 'negative' ways.  Many of these successful ones, forget at one time they needed help and were given help.  Yet, instead of being mentors, they choose to be obstructiveness.  

These so-called gurus, in the music industry, continue to try and impede anyone that encroaches on their so-call rights-of-passage turf.  Which, they will soon learn, as the major labels do, their obstructiveness will be steam rolled by the new and ever-growing music independents around the world.  INDIES that realize they and they alone are in charge of their success.  INDIES that by doing a lot of research can learn and do anything anyone can teach them, albeit taking longer, but, it can be done.

The last point  "thinking outside a music box."  Music industry networking events are all the same people with the same information, which can become rather boring and may even make you think: I am making no progress and these events are hardly worth my time. Finding a lack of respect and a lot of clatters in those music events, you decided to start going to non-music-related events, such as general social media networking events. Of course, you talked about your music to people there and ended up getting a great deal of attention from them. Getting peoples attention is the first step into acquiring True Blue Fans.  And, we all know, True Blue Fans, are the bottom line to have a successful and lasting music career. 

SUMMARY:  Looking back at those experiences, you point out a great advantage that you learned about how to effectively use social media "early." Also, you realized that all industries were related anyway. Your current goal is still to find things "early."  Early will help reduce your road's length to success!

--end

Support Indie Female Musicians

I don’t condemn anyone who does not or cannot buy local. I’m an ardent supporter of small businesses, and I hope that you will be too, but I’m not going to say you’re wrong if you have good reasons for shopping elsewhere.

All things being equal, I suspect most people would choose to buy local. But each of us has a different price at which local is no longer an option. For some, this point is immediate: they’ll always buy the cheapest option, regardless of other factors. Others — and I know a few like this — will buy local no matter the cost.

Female Indie Artist are Small Business.  I am a HUGE supporter of All INDIE artist and ALL LIVE music, especially female.  Why only female?  Because they have great talent; great songs; and in my opinion, heavily discriminated against in both the music 'label', The 'Venue', and 'Indie' world.  

Don't believe me....take a look at any venue and compare the percentage of booked females versus booked males.  Radio is getting better, but, in no way does their scheduling show a 50/50 split in male/female songs played.  It's more like 80/20 or 70/20.  Yes I know this is what the free market supports and calls for, but, the only way to make it right is for someone, some club owner, some radio station, to change the way they do things.  But, as with most businesses I find it's still all about the bottom line....making money...therein lies the 'catch 22" for most all female artist, especially those in the Indie Live Music Market.

The answer:  All female artist have to work 3 times as hard to build a large following everywhere they go.  Once venues know you will fill their place at a 80-90% level, they will be calling you or your booking agency to schedule you and your band on a regular basis, which normally is every 4-10 weeks.  

In today's Music World 2.0 the biggest asset for success is a large loyal and what we call True Blue Fans.  

So make great music, learn to connect on stage with your audience, and above all make extra daily efforts to know your fans, which in turn they will bring more of their friends to your shows.say you’re wrong if you have good reasons for shopping elsewhere.I don’t condemn anyone who does not or cannot buy local. I’m an ardent supporter of small businesses, and I hope that you will be too, but I’m not going to say you’re wrong if you have good reasons for shopping elsewhere.

All things being equal, I suspect most people would choose to buy local. But each of us has a different price at which local is no longer an option. For some, this point is immediate: they’ll always buy the cheapest option, regardless of other factors. Others — and I know a few like this — will buy local no matter the cost.

Female Indie Artist are Small Business.  I am a HUGE supporter of All INDIE artist and ALL LIVE music, especially female.  Why only female?  Because they have great talent; great songs; and in my opinion, heavily discriminated against in both the music 'label', The 'Venue', and 'Indie' world.  

Don't believe me....take a look at any venue and compare the percentage of booked females versus booked males.  Radio is getting better, but, in no way does their scheduling show a 50/50 split in male/female songs played.  It's more like 80/20 or 70/20.  Yes I know this is what the free market supports and calls for, but, the only way to make it right is for someone, some club owner, some radio station, to change the way they do things.  But, as with most businesses I find it's still all about the bottom line....making money...therein lies the 'catch 22" for most all female artist, especially those in the Indie Live Music Market.

The answer:  All female artist have to work 3 times as hard to build a large following everywhere they go.  Once venues know you will fill their place at a 80-90% level, they will be calling you or your booking agency to schedule you and your band on a regular basis, which normally is every 4-10 weeks.  

In today's Music World 2.0 the biggest asset for success is a large loyal and what we call True Blue Fans.  

So make great music, learn to connect on stage with your audience, and above all make extra daily efforts to know your fans, which in turn they will bring more of their friends to your shows.

All things being equal, I suspect most people would choose to buy local. But each of us has a different price at which local is no longer an option. For some, this point is immediate: they’ll always buy the cheapest option, regardless of other factors. Others — and I know a few like this — will buy local no matter the cost.

Female Indie Artist are Small Business.  I am a HUGE supporter of All INDIE artist and ALL LIVE music, especially female.  Why only female?  Because they have great talent; great songs; and in my opinion, heavily discriminated against in both the music 'label', The 'Venue', and 'Indie' world.  

Don't believe me....take a look at any venue and compare the percentage of booked females versus booked males.  Radio is getting better, but, in no way does their scheduling show a 50/50 split in male/female songs played.  It's more like 80/20 or 70/20.  Yes I know this is what the free market supports and calls for, but, the only way to make it right is for someone, some club owner, some radio station, to change the way they do things.  But, as with most businesses I find it's still all about the bottom line....making money...therein lies the 'catch 22" for most all female artist, especially those in the Indie Live Music Market.

The answer:  All female artist have to work 3 times as hard to build a large following everywhere they go.  Once venues know you will fill their place at a 80-90% level, they will be calling you or your booking agency to schedule you and your band on a regular basis, which normally is every 4-10 weeks.  

In today's Music World 2.0 the biggest asset for success is a large loyal and what we call True Blue Fans.  

So make great music, learn to connect on stage with your audience, and above all make extra daily efforts to know your fans, which in turn they will bring more of their friends to your shows.

Artist Press

kleerstreem

 

Positive articles written about you are invaluable for building awareness.  If you can't get articles written about you, at lest try to get quotes about you.  Start locally and continue to move outward from your base.  Asked local DJ's to play your music and to give you one liners. Build up a quote sheet for your press kit and for all your social media sites.  Use these letter and quotes every time you can; if you do there is a great chance of a domino effect....newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and TV...they will think you are incredible!  And, the bottom line, is everything will lead to more fans that will come out to see your shows.

Becoming A Successful Tourning Artist/Entertainer

We all know there are several hundred great female country artist out there who get absolutely no consideration. Music is about much more than you and your songs.....it's about the TEAM of professionals you have around you. RIGHT NOW TEAM TAYLOR IS SMOKING! Either that, there is some fishy business going on with the voters, which I sincerely doubt.

If someone gave me $500 to go see my favorite nominee, I would have to pick Jennifer Nettles.....she makes a connection with me on most all her songs and how can you not see the passion on her face and hear it in her voice...but, that is just me.

Your music is like a circle....you're the center, but what completes your circle is how well your work all the pieces, large or small and how consistent you work them with your team members.

Most important, how you build your fan base of what I call True Blue Fans. Without them your career will remain stagnant. Some say you need 1,000 .... I say you need and want as many as you can connect with..... I ask all artist fans to recruit 1 new TBF / month. If this happens, your TBF base can be at 5,000 -10,000 within in 3-5 years. Data shows each new TBF will spend on average $100 / year on you. Which means 5,000 TBF generates $500,000 / year in gross income; 10,000 TBF generates $1,000,000 in gross sales / year. Either way, record deal or no record deal, in 3-5 years most any artist will become successful touring and earning a good living, not only for her, but members of her team. There are many ways to have TBF and have them become one of the most import parts of your circle (team). If you now have 1,000 TBF and each one brings 1 new TBF / month, in one year you have 12,000 and once you get to that level your career will explode. You may not ever be on the CMA awards, but, who cares if your making a wonderful living and having fun doing what you love to do. When you become a confide touring artist and are make it on your own, more than likely a label will show up and that's when you have the power to not give away your future and when you can make a deal or not, that will be a win/win for you and for the label.....many more details to this.

Anastasia Brown has written much about this as well as many others....spend your time working your career and keeping your fans informed and not so much as those who don't support you, your music, your shows, and your team.