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LET IT RIDE

The Matinee performs “Piss Up A Rope”!

Seriously…if you don’t tap your feet and drum your fingers on the desk to this one, you need another beer (just sayin)

What You DON’T Post Could Hurt You

I spotted an interesting interview with Jac Holzman, the founder of Electra Records.  The thing that stuck out most for me about his conversation was the topic of video exposure.

As one of the first people to produce music videos for television in 1966 (originally with the Nickelodeon channel’s program called Pop Clips, which later became MTV),starring The Doors for their tune ”Break On Through“, it didn’t take long to realize just how important a marketing tool music videos would be. 

Even with the web saturated in video content, it seems that if you don’t have a video of your band posted, you are missing out on your most valuable tool to market your band.  In Jac’s own words,

 ”I think Youtube is the strongest place you can be.  If it’s good, and it’s on Youtube, it has a really good shot (at going viral).  I think you can see a lot of originality and learn more about an artist through the video, what they are trying to say… you get into their head better with a visual tool”.

Watch the interview here: 

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YOU CAN LEAD A HORSE TO WATER…

Everyone knows the old expression, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink”, and it still holds true today.  I just had an excellent conversation with Jay from Winter Of Freedom via Facebook, and he made this point with respect to a topic about self-promotion that we brought up last Monday on The Stepping Stone when his band Winter of Freedom were our guests.

Self-promotion can be a good thing and a bad thing.  Its good to get the word out about who you are and what you do, but knowing who your audience is, and promoting yourselves in the right way is key to making your online self-promotion efforts effective.  I did mention that earlier in a previous blog post as well.

So does making a lot of noise guarantee you’ll get noticed.  Probably yes, but who are the ones noticing you?  Are they of any real value?  Much like having thousands of people following you on Twitter, just because they’ve heard of you doesn’t mean they are actually paying attention.  A popularity contest?  Yes, but to what end?  Would you rather have 5,000 people who really don’t give a rat’s ass about what you have to say listed as your friends or peeps on Twitter & Facebook, or 1,000 people who really love your music, and can’t wait to hear your next song release or find out where you are playing live next?

I think you already know the answer to that.  At the end of the day it is quality over quantity that will win you the race.  And while we’re throwing around old expressions, Jay’s point is the most valuable.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.  Think about this one the next time you post something on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace about your band.  Make what you say on your band’s fan pages count by giving some value to the reader/follower/fan.  Give them a reason to drink the water.

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Winter of Freedom “Wonderland”

IS YOUR BAND A “BRAND”?

You and your music are a product.  If you’ve never thought of it that way before, now would be a good time to start.

One of the many tasks indie bands & artists have today include networking in ways that were never possible 10 years ago.  For some, this is a double edged sword.  For others  its simply another way to stay connected with their fan base and collect new fans.  But is that enough?

So why would you need  to worry about branding if you aren’t signed with a label?  Branding is very important because:

1.  It differentiates you from everyone else in the networking communities, giving you a recognizable face the crowd – official band logo for example

2.  It gives you an opportunity to market products like t-shirs & posters for profit

3.  It says you mean business & want to be taken seriously

If your band signed up with an agency tomorrow, the first thing they would do is brand you.  And lets face it…should you be signed by a label, in the label’s eyes you are one of their brands they represent; a commodity to be packaged and sold to the public.

Dominate the minds of those who know you now, and will know of you in the future by branding yourself in social communities & the marketplace.

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