Lay it Out, So You Can Play it Out
pts. 4 and 5, Rehearsal and Marketing
pts. 4 and 5, Rehearsal and Marketing
After reading parts 1 through 3 and using the information therein to book and play your first show, you're now officially a professional gigging musician. What to do now? How to fill your days now that you've found your passion?
There are two good answers to these questions: rehearsal and marketing. If you concentrate on these two aspects of your career you will constantly a) get more and different people to come to your shows and b) make sure they come back the next time because you've effectively lowered the chances you'll botch a performance and look like the musical village idiot.
Marketing (to me, not some college prof.) means two things. One, street level marketing which includes print, radio, posters, handbills, newspapers, magazines and generally talking to the average dude or lady about what it is you do and why they should come to your show. Never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth. Second, online promotion which should equal or exceed your level of street promo. A third category which is technically not marketing but really just exposure, involves PR situations such as TV interviews or CD album reviews.
Your online presence is particularly important. iTunes, CDbaby, Amazon, AOL, Pandora, Reverbnation, Virb, blogs, music industry websites.... all these and more should be able to access and publish information about your group, whether or not they actively solicit the information themselves. In other words, if a site has a submission page, fill it out! Pretty soon you will realize that most websites get their info from other websites, and your presence online will grow exponentially.
In terms of street-promo, just use common sense. Make sure your posters are readable from a distance, use color, go above and beyond the clip-art that comes with your word-processing software, and put up two dozen more posters than you think you need to put up.
Overall make sure your presence is properly "branded". All marketing materials should look uniform, so people can recognize your brand with one glance at a webpage or poster.
Do all this, avoid booking shows on nights with competing events, and the people will come. Now all you need to do is practice.
Most musicians have no idea how much rehearsal time really goes in to making songs perfect and executing them perfectly, even songs with heavy improvisation. World-class orchestras (and many bands) get to that status because there is a task-master-type conductor or band-leader cracking the whip every practice. I've had drumsticks thrown at me for missing notes in practice by big, scary band-leaders in New Orleans who have no tolerance for mistakes.
I prefer a more open type of rehearsal where everyone is free to positively critisize each other and the result is not only better because it is the sum of many ideas, but because everyone can be happy and feel invested in the project. The main idea is to get specific. If it sounds like someone is messing something up, go back, figure out what is happening. Correct it and move on.
I really do welcome any questions from musicians about how we at Frogs Gone Fishin' are able to support ourselves as a yound band (in a bad economy).
Next post, The Big Move.
There are two good answers to these questions: rehearsal and marketing. If you concentrate on these two aspects of your career you will constantly a) get more and different people to come to your shows and b) make sure they come back the next time because you've effectively lowered the chances you'll botch a performance and look like the musical village idiot.
Marketing (to me, not some college prof.) means two things. One, street level marketing which includes print, radio, posters, handbills, newspapers, magazines and generally talking to the average dude or lady about what it is you do and why they should come to your show. Never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth. Second, online promotion which should equal or exceed your level of street promo. A third category which is technically not marketing but really just exposure, involves PR situations such as TV interviews or CD album reviews.
Your online presence is particularly important. iTunes, CDbaby, Amazon, AOL, Pandora, Reverbnation, Virb, blogs, music industry websites.... all these and more should be able to access and publish information about your group, whether or not they actively solicit the information themselves. In other words, if a site has a submission page, fill it out! Pretty soon you will realize that most websites get their info from other websites, and your presence online will grow exponentially.
In terms of street-promo, just use common sense. Make sure your posters are readable from a distance, use color, go above and beyond the clip-art that comes with your word-processing software, and put up two dozen more posters than you think you need to put up.
Overall make sure your presence is properly "branded". All marketing materials should look uniform, so people can recognize your brand with one glance at a webpage or poster.
Do all this, avoid booking shows on nights with competing events, and the people will come. Now all you need to do is practice.
Most musicians have no idea how much rehearsal time really goes in to making songs perfect and executing them perfectly, even songs with heavy improvisation. World-class orchestras (and many bands) get to that status because there is a task-master-type conductor or band-leader cracking the whip every practice. I've had drumsticks thrown at me for missing notes in practice by big, scary band-leaders in New Orleans who have no tolerance for mistakes.
I prefer a more open type of rehearsal where everyone is free to positively critisize each other and the result is not only better because it is the sum of many ideas, but because everyone can be happy and feel invested in the project. The main idea is to get specific. If it sounds like someone is messing something up, go back, figure out what is happening. Correct it and move on.
I really do welcome any questions from musicians about how we at Frogs Gone Fishin' are able to support ourselves as a yound band (in a bad economy).
Next post, The Big Move.
1 comment:
"Gimmie dat cigarette boy"
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