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Online Marketing for an Indie Band?
Posted by
Cliff
on Fri Sep 06, 2002 01:49 PM
from the RIAA?-we-don-need-no-STEEKING-RIAA dept.
from the RIAA?-we-don-need-no-STEEKING-RIAA dept.
nometa asks: "I'm working with an indie band, and despite excellent reviews, a great album (produced by Sylvia Massey of Tool fame), and excited responses by crowds whenever we play, it seems near-impossible to get past the 'gate-keepers' of the music industry. Majors (and several indies, sadly) don't see a pretty boy band, push for fluffy singles over good songs, and generally act like they still have clue about what people want. We've had great success, however, on our websites selling CDs and pulling in new fans, and would like to push online music marketing further. Do any Slashdot readers have suggestions for pushing our music out further online?" We all know the problem with today's music industry, this is not the place for that horse-pill. Instead let's focus on how an independent music group can go out there and make it on their own, and do so using existing technology (including the Internet), to its best potential. So what suggestions do you have for young, aspiring bands who want to make their music, and not sell their soul in the process?
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Online Marketing for an Indie Band?
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Uh...you did it (Score:5, Funny)
-Waldo Jaquith
Step #1 (Score:4, Funny)
Keep your website online by not having it Slashdotted to death
Campus Net-Radio (Score:5, Insightful)
MP3 id tags? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Campus Net-Radio (Score:4, Insightful)
sorry to say but without such backing and creating a limited choice for consumers by the big medias, people would choose diverse artists/bands thereby not creating one or a few bands that are 'it' -- that *everyone* listens to. that is the sole premise of the business model of the entertainment industry. few bands 'make it big' (in reality they are 'made big'.) so there is some sense of consolidation for the big media. same as x number of models in a product line etc.. ("pick any color you want as long as it's black." -- Ford). all kinds of combinations and variations that people actually want are really hard to manage. it's also really costly. instead, just put out a certain models, concentrate your finances and efforts there and market them like crazy. So unless you sell out of your indie roots, you're SOL.
But there is hope. it's a well known fact that the bigwigs take most of the cut. i don't know enough about the 'indie process' but i'm sure you get better returns in terms of percentage. so in reality, you have a chance of making decent living even if you reach fewer people. concentrate on that. if you just make it in your hometown, independently, i'm thinking you should be making quite a good living.
if it's rock star status you're thinking about, well, you weren't indie to begin with and you shouldn't be talking to us -- well me anyways. talk to the guy in the grey suit.
but like the above poster (overshoot) said, give away your songs to the campuses running their own radios. then go do shows in the local bars there. when i was going to college, we heard bands on the campus radio and were there to see their show in our favorite local bar whenever they came by.
Don't use their model (Score:5, Interesting)
emergent music is a good start (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Skip Intro (Score:5, Insightful)
Make that #2.
Suggestion #1 should be: DON'T BE A 'TARD AND REDIRECT SOMEONE TO WWW.MACROMEDIA.COM IF YOUR BRAIN-DEAD JAVASCRIPT DOESN'T DETECT A FLASH PLUG-IN - ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ALREADY HAVE THE PLUGIN INSTALLED
To the Band:
I'm always looking for new music, especially independant bands (that's where most of the 'innovation' in music comes from today), and I buy direct from indie band's websites frequently.
I tried going to your website, expecting to see what you're all about, and maybe being able to sample some of your music - if it was good I'd have no problem buying some CD's, and if very good, some other merchandise.
Instead, your web site tells me that you don't want me as a customer, because you sent me to another site, which has NOTHING to do with you
If you're looking to become more popular, don't send people away from your website.
Allow show trading.... (Score:4, Informative)
I have said it MANY times before... (Score:5, Informative)
FurthurNET [furthurnet.com] and etree [etree.org]
I *only* support, monitarily, musicians that allow the FREE distribution of their music to their fans...
etree relies on a mailing list and FTP servers to distribute music whereas FurthurNET relies on P2P (in a format much like Limewire, etc).
If you really want your music to go out and don't want to have to pay HIGH bandwith costs, I suggest one of these two methods.
Proxy! (Score:4, Funny)
If you really want to make it, follow these steps:
Please don't really do this--every talking head in the nation will be screaming the "Someone must be held accountable!" mantra, your band's potential career will be snuffed, you will all be sent to prison for terrorism, I will be labelled a terrorist ringleader for giving you this idea, and slashdot.org will be closed down under the USA-PATRIOT act.
Better get used to those college towns.
College Radio (Score:4, Informative)
A lot of bands which have enjoyed success on mainstream radio got their start in college radio. Radiohead is one great example (and, er, Tool is another).
There are organisations such as Team Clermont and Addsman who distribute albums for very small labels and independants who are too small to effectively handle their own distribution. Getting one of them to promote your CD is a good start.
IRC, P2P, etc (Score:3, Insightful)
Get some of your music on a p2p service. Some people think it helps [csoft.net].
Get yourself a Soundscan barcode, and start tracking sales with it religiously. Labels notice if your soundscan numbers jump.
Finally, ask yourself what's really important to you. Labels will try to make you famous if they think it's a good investment that fits with their concept. They'll take your art and most of the money from the resulting fame, though. If your desire is to be huge, go the label route. If your desire is simply to make music and make a living, re-read the article I linked to above. That artist is making a living in Utah, a place with nearly no real local music venues or radio support. Several others are too. They had something in them that appealed to a large enough audience, and word got out. That's the real trick.
The Majors are probably right (Score:4, Insightful)
I know everybody here likes to bitch and moan about popular music, but the fact is that the recording industry at large probably does have a pretty good handle on what "most people" want.
These guys sink millions upon millions of dollars into focus groups and various other forms of research to determine what music is going to be the most popular. Obviously you're going to have bands (e.g. Barenaked Ladies) that blindside these studies and turn into mega superstars. But for better or worse, the major labels have gotten pretty good at spoon-feeding the public just exactly what they want. It may be insipid, it may be uninspired, but chances are it's what most people want to hear.
Look at it this way - you and I may not be buying Britney Spears albums, but there's a hell of a lot of somebody out there paying for them.
OR, just buy your market share (Score:5, Insightful)
No market research, just raw ownership of the airwaves and, by extension, the markets.
R.I.P. Rev 105 in Mpls. We knew not what we had.
Horse-pill? (Score:4, Funny)
I would have called the music industry a different horse product, myself....
Allow taping (Score:5, Insightful)
The Grateful Dead did it. Phish does it. Dave Matthews Band does it. U2 does it. Radiohead does it. Metallica did it. Note that I just named six of the top grossing concert acts ever. Combine that with a heavy touring schedule, and assuming your band is decent enough to draw an audience, they will rake in the dough.
However, if your band expects to make their primary income from record sales, you're gonna have to bend to the will of the record companies. Fact of the business.
Weezer.com (Score:3, Insightful)
Btw, Metallica.com charges $25 a year to look at their bulletin board. (They actually found a way for me to hate them. This coming from a hardcore fan from the 80's)
Hookup with an Indie Filmmaker (Score:3, Interesting)
Online marketing (Score:4, Interesting)
The truth is the reason behiond the success of traditional advertisement is that its very expensive. That guarantees that the customer will remember the few brands that manage to get a goot marketing campaign.
Having said that i would recommend you to leave traditional online advertisement (websites, p2p, slashdot, etc) as secondary, and focus on untraditional and innovative advertisement. Im not telling you to hack google to show your band as the result of every query, but to be smart and careful.
For instance, you could start a "music for geeks" campaign, giving away linux CDs in your shows and showing source code behind the stage, that would get you on the news, and from there (if you are good) you are done.
The key: innovation, do something nobody has ever done.
Two Words: Online Communities (Score:3, Insightful)
You may not "make it" (Score:3, Insightful)
My advice is to throw away any rock star visions and concentrate on making music. Be happy playing music for whatever audience you do have. It's really about having fun making music and expressing yourself. You say you have great audience response, good album reviews, and you're happy with the album. Sounds pretty good to me.
I tend to think it takes either a stunningly brilliant musical innovator, selling your soul, or dumb luck to hit the big time. It sounds like there are plenty of people like Tallman. But listening to an MP3, I can tell that while it sounds good, it's not stunningly innovative. However, you've sure had some good luck by being posted on Slashdot!
To answer the posted question: I've joined online art and music communities with people that do similar music to my own. And my friend sends free CDs and tapes to his friends in various cities and has them leave them at record stores for people to take. I guess what really sums it up is: that I think it's a lot more fun and rewarding if you forget about the business and making money, and just make the music you enjoy making.
-Paul
First Step: Find a band that doesnt SUCK (Score:3, Funny)
I went ahead and downloaded the two full tracks that "Tallman" has to offer on their site. After listening to the bland formulaic dated head-banger crap, I think I realize why this eager to sell out band hasnt been picked up by any major studio: they suck. (IMO,YMMV)
Artists who wish to make their music/code/prose/whatever are supposed to do it because they like to. Becoming a consumerist success is NOT nirvana.
What a waste of bandwidth.
A few notes from a former band member: (Score:4, Interesting)
He had written literally hundreds of songs, and from the sound of his old cassettes, had a pretty good band together for a little while in Chicago.
Anyway, the only "marketing" we did was an investment in flyers and a couple batches of t-shirts with cool artwork on them - plus mailing tapes to any underground paper or local newspaper that would accept them for review.
The rest was just plain old "word of mouth". The most effective thing we did was playing for free at house parties. Pass the word around that there's a kegger at such-and-such a house on Sat. night - and collect "donations" for the beer at the door when people get there.
After a year or so, we developed a following of fans/groupies. Did we ever make any money from it? No, not at all... but it was a lot of fun, and I'm really glad we did it.
I think it *could* have become serious, but if you don't have money to sell yourselves (or cater to a record label who will provide that funding), you just have to do it the hard way. That is, win over fans one at a time - until you've built up a "critical mass" of fans.
Basically, I think the trick is, get a day job - but don't lose track of your long-term goals. Keep playing gigs. Above all, keep writing your own stuff and putting it out there. I see bands in this area that are musically very talented, but they keep playing everyone else's stuff. Sure, the dance party/nightclub crowds love hearing that - but in the end, the credit keeps going to the original writers of the songs, *not* to you! That's no way to become any more successful than what you earn playing those weekend nightclub gigs.
Keep on doing whatever it is that makes your fans like you. Rinse, repeat!
Less net, more hard distribution (Score:4, Interesting)
You say you perform live. Great! SELL CDs (if you don't already). Really, it's not hard to record and burn a master then copy 5,000 either through yourself (heh) or pay a third party to do it. Yeah, the latter option requires you to shell out some cash, but what you do sell, you pocket. I've seen street performers do this successfully.
Radio. Somehow, some way, get air time. Even if you have to buy it. I won't claim to be a marketing genius, but radio is the best way to reach a lot of people. Buy a commercial slot. Play a condensed minute-thirty version of your most popular song and where you'll be playing next. Heck, some DJs might even give you a free shot or two.
Find a way to slip it into the format of popular internet radio. Yes, I remeber what I said at the top, but that doesn't mean it isn't without use. Winamp is hella popular, as is WAR. Find the most popular channels and hook up with their directors, slip your song in with a blurb about you. A few of them are revenue starved. Pay them. They'll like you. A lot.
I know, most of my solutions revolve around fundage. I'm also assuming you have jobs other than the band. Unfortunately, it's a nessisary evil, especially if you don't want to sell out. That's the big trade-off. "The Man" provides you the capital and as such, has lots of influence over you. In your situation, it's the opposite. You don't want his influence, but you still want to reach as many ears as possible. Unless you catch some extrodinarily lucky breaks, money is part of that equation. I'd hope there are easier ways, but these are the best I can think of. Unlike a previous co-worker mine who had a band thinks, success rarily jumps out and bites you on the ass while you sit at home, unemployed and play at a bar twice a month. I wish you the best success.
CDBaby (Score:3, Informative)
These guys give you a nice, professional front end for selling tunes, they create sampler discs, host music samples, and what's more - they'll even help you set yourselves up to take credit cards for your merchandise (and/or ticks) at your gigs.
They're 100% RIAA-free so far as I know, and there's a LOT of good stuff there.
On the down side, they're making me go broke.