As with any business interest, promotion is half the battle when it comes to the business of doing art.  Whether you are a visual artist, a nonprofit organization or a band, the process of letting people know about what you do is a key factor to achieving success.  

When it comes to marketing, a name is very important.  According to Chris Houchens, author of Brand Zeitgeist and owner of Shotgun Concepts,  your brand is the foundational element to your marketing strategy.  “You have to know your own story before you can tell people your story – that’s your brand.  You can’t go out and promote yourself without knowing your own story in your mind.” says Houchens.  

Consider carefully the image you want to project and a name that will fit what you are doing.  As soon as you have selected a potential name, it would behoove you to do a little research and be sure it has not already been trademarked.  Many bands have spent years building a following just to find that they must change their name because a previous group holds the trademark. Visit www.uspto.gov/faq/musicart.jsp for information on trademarking and use TESS (Trademark Electronic Search System) to search for your name and find links to apply for a trademark. In addition images and songs can be copyrighted.  For information and to apply for copyrights visit the Library of Congress’ Copyright Office at www.copyright.gov.  

In reality as soon as you create something, you own the material.  Copyright law was originally established, not to secure your ownership, but to release it at a certain point in time into the public domain so that it can be used by other artists for derivative works.  To use copyrighted material one must reimburse the copyright holder.  If you are a cover band, generally licensing to perform copyrighted material is covered by the venues in which you play.  Nightclubs for example pay monthly fees to organizations like ASCAP, BMI and SESAC so that they can offer cover bands.  However, if you want to record a demo to be used in booking or to sell, you must secure Mechanical Licensing and/or Digital Licensing.  It is not legal for you to post a performance of a cover song online unless you do this, even if you are not selling it.  

Johnny Thompson, owner of Farm Out! Records and Scottsville Conservatory recently created an album with several covers.  “It’s not very expensive, it’s a tad tedious but something that I feel like if you take the game seriously you will be taken seriously in return.” he said.  When a song is copyrighted, by statute it must be made available for others to record at a set price.  Fees are paid directly to the copyright holder at rate of 9.10 cents per copy for songs five minutes or less.  In other words, if you are printing 100 albums containing one cover song, your cost will be $9.1.  If you have 10 cover songs on your album it will cost you just under a dollar an album for 100 copies. To obtain licensing you can search online for the publisher and contact them directly or you can go through an agency like www.harryfox.com as Thompson did, and pay a $10 fee per song for the convenience of looking through an immense catalog and licensing them all in one place.

Once you have a name, it’s time to further build your story with your promotional package.  These days, more often that not that means an electronic press kit (EPK).  A detailed, well organized EPK is a must when approaching venues and media.  It should contain at minimum a biography of the band, a high resolution picture and your contact information.  Services like Reverbnation make it easy to follow their template, however you still should consider your own website or at minimum sending an EPK directly as such sites force contact through their system, which is not always convenient for those seeking information.  Ideally your press kit also contains professional quality samples of your music and accolades by media.  However, if you are not yet ready, short videos of live shows or even practice sessions can convey what you have to offer.  Have a fan take a video with their cellphone and acknowledge this in your description, the viewer will understand the limitations of the footage and sound but will still gain the information necessary in determining whether to book you.

John Tidball, owner of Tidballs says, “I first need to hear something from the band, a CD or anything on the internet.  I get a lot of good bands wanting to play and I just have to try and predict if they will fit at Tidballs in some way. Sometimes a band that I book regularly will ask to add a band to their next show.  Sometimes that is easier than me trying to figure out how to work a band in.  I think the bands and Tidballs become partners for their night.   I appreciate bands bringing in flyers, internet promotions, radio promotions or anything else they can come up with.”

Franne Jennings of Normal Street Booking also emphasizes the idea of gig swapping, saying “It is just kind of a professional friendship that you need to establish and it is really crucial.”  In finding new venues for her bands, she utilizes services like Reverbnation, Indieonthemove.com and onlinegigs.com. She emphasizes the research necessary in shopping for local bands as well as finding potential venues, suggesting that you must find the best contact information and take care in determining you will fit their format.  “You should always give the person reading it a reference point, such as ‘they sound similar to this band’.” she says. Once a band with a similar appeal is discovered you can make arrangements to warm up for them in their town and have them warm up for you in yours.  She also advised, “Indie comes from word independent – a record deal means money and a machine of PR people and bookers. All that work is still required.  It’s up to you to get it done.  When a venue says you must promote your own show, a lot of bands think they’re getting screwed and that’s because they’re lazy.  It is a job, to sell a product.  You must be flyer designer, videographer, social media specialist and publicist unless you are willing to pay for those.”  In addition she has her talent arrive several hours early to each gig for what one client calls “walking up and down”.  This means playing on the streets or in a local coffee shop and posting it to Facebook as well as handing out flyers and talking with potential customers outside the venue or in the local record store.  This is followed by mingling with the audience after the show, gathering email address for your enews list and encouraging people to contact on your social media pages.

Utilize your fans to create a street team that helps distribute your posters, flyers and bumper stickers.  But these days many cities like Bowling Green have placed restrictions on where such items can be located.  Be sure to familiarize yourself with these as large fines can be levied if your flyers are found where they are not permitted.  Venues welcome posters to put up and many businesses have community bulletin boards.  Stay on friendly terms with these businesses by removing them after the gig.  You can also create press releases and do interviews with local radio, television and print media.  A press release is basically an article you write yourself and contains all the basic information about your upcoming engagement as well as about your band.  It gives an interviewer the information they need to prepare and sometimes they are used as written for articles.  Don’t forget local online calendars!  Enter all your dates as many places as possible with detailed descriptions.

As with your name, you want your posters and album art to convey who you are and to stand out.  Jim Madison, who along with Connie Collingsworth makes up Print Mafia, an old school design firm who boasts customers that include: Tool, Wall Street Journal, Levis, Third Man Records, knows the importance of standing out.  “If a band’s doing a flyer they should take their time and really make it noticeable.  In promoting your band, you’re as good as you’re telling people you are – if your merch is good and your flyers are good you’re already telling people you’re good.  Go the extra mile to make sure everything looks correct. Good looking flyers are something that get people to the show.  People bought the Iron Maiden record because the cover looked so good.” says Madison.  He also believes that provocative, if not controversial images tend to create a buzz and stands by the old saying, “all publicity is good publicity” noting, “If you’re going to be in a rock & roll band, be in a rock & roll band.  Just do it.  Cherish that, treat it like you’re already on top of the world.  We don’t wait for doors to open we go ahead and just knock them down.  Being good is half of it, it’s believing in yourself and treating yourself as ‘I’m serious I’m doing it’”.

The value of merchandising can’t be underestimated.  It serves as a promotional tool and creates some income.  Michelle Hendrick of Roxcel, spent a year traveling with Earth, Wind and Fire as their Merchandising/Concert Sales Liaison.  “Selling product,   CDs,  T-shirts,  hats,  pictures,  is most of the time how groups or entertainers get to advance their own careers, by increasing their presence. People share CDs,  people read names on t-shirts/hats.” says Hendrick.  Once you have recorded your music you can also pursue compensation through publishing and pitch it for use in movies, commercials and by other artists.

In this day and age social media has become the new guerilla marketing.  While your promotions should extend well beyond social networks, they are a very effective tool.  Chris Nation, Creative Director of HitCents offers this advice: “Most users setup Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and then return to it once a month or sometimes longer. This is a misuse of the media it was designed for. It presents the opportunity for followers to respond and interact with others, in essence creating a ‘community’.  One of biggest tips I would recommend is to evaluate what you are ‘saying’ on these social networks. Make your content meaningful, make it relevant! You want users, customers and followers to come back to your Facebook page or Twitter account and continue reading your ideas and postings, therein creating loyal readership”

A key ingredient in your success will be the partnerships you build whether it is with venues, the media, your street team or other artist you play with or who participate in the creation of your albums or promotional materials.  Be sure to acknowledge them through credits and plugs, they will appreciate the promotion and support and will return it.

About the author: Kim Mason is the Content Manager of the Amplifier which was founded by her in 1995. She serves as Executive Director for the BG International Festival and designs websites. www.kimmason.ky.net