The greatest challenge bands face today is getting through all the noise. How do you get your music heard?
Try this:
Team up with a group of bands that all have things in common (whether that's lifestyle, genre, demographic, etc) and promote one band at a time for two week periods.
- Blog about them
- Tell your fans about them
- Throw their widget up on your own page
- Tell your mother
Do whatever it is you wish others were doing for you and in return, they will when your two weeks is up!
- Have a distinct logo for your Coalition so people know about it and will be curios.
- Cycle through the bands/artists so everyone gets a new push every now and then.
- Consider adding new members to the coalition once it grows. (others will want in, I'm sure)
Let's say you've got a group of 13 artists. At two weeks each, that means each band will get 2 marketing campaigns every year. In learning how to promote others, you will undoubtedly learn how to better promote yourself. AND, you'll gain some clout and respect for being a part of something really fucking cool.
Maybe working 48 weeks out of the year for others isn't worth 4 weeks of work done for you in return. But consider this: it will depend greatly on the coalition you form. If you had a minimum number of true fans from each artist at say, 500, that's 6000 people the other artists in your coalition have influence over.
Now imagine your fans receiving info every two weeks about a band within your coalition. This is a band you respect and genuinely want to help out. You like their music and you have something in common with them so chances are, your fans will have something in common with them as well. Your fans will (hopefully) like the bands in your coalition and will thank you for turning them on to new, good music.
It's a win-win for everyone.
Think about it.
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Ahh, Mr. Carlson, good point you make! Your post applies to many industries, too. For example, it would be really cool if a fashion designer I admired built a coalition of unknown talented designers. I am always looking for new designers...so I would appreciate the heads up and trust their advice.
ReplyDeleteI will consider this in my business. Mucho Gracias!
Keep 'em coming!
I like the way you think. Most musicians aren't able to help each other out like this, otherwise we'd see a lot more coalitions and collectives popping up.
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say, I will be putting this into practice as soon as I find some players.
I thought a lot more about this idea after we discussed it over dinner. What if more than one band is promoted at a time? Would it yield better results focusing on just one band, or if people had two bands they could choose from to check out new material? (This might cause some sort of rivalry between the bands though).
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, what if you stick with one band but each period is shortened to 1 week? Maybe you just need that 1 week to get through to the people that will eventually become more interested, and once they do they'll start researching information on their own. Personally if I check out a band that's being promoted at the start of a 2-week period and they don't interest me much, hearing about them for the next 2 weeks wouldn't be very engaging.
Additionally, you could have all the news/gigs/info from all the 13 bands on one website, and the fans will learn through their favorite band that the website has 12 other similar bands, all of which are affiliated. When they visit the site to keep up with their favorite band, they'll also be exposed to the 12 other bands. That way everyone will get some exposure at all times, regardless of where they are in the order of promotion.
I'll think more about this and keep you posted...