Online Marketing for an Indie Band?

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?

Campus Net-Radio

[overshoot]

Give samples and distribution rights to University LAN stations. A lot of University campuses have their own inside-the-firewall Net radio and are starved for material.

You've been brainwashed

[PhysicsGenius]

You draw crowds. You sell CDs. You get web hits. Congratulations, you are a success.

What were you expecting? To be a hit new sensation sweeping the nation? Guess what, that doesn't happen (anymore) without selling out. Be content with what you have.

Try these guys

[MattHawes]

My buddie's band used an indy music distrobution company called 101distribution.

Skip Intro

[Anonymous Coward]

I went to the band's website. Suggestion #1: Don't make people click through layers to get what they want - information. I hate Flash intros that have no purpose. If you even need to put a 'Skip Intro' button on the page, you should question if it is necessary.

IRC, P2P, etc

[weston]

Linkin Park apparent got on appropriate IRC and other IM/Chat channels where music was being discussed, and pretended they weren't in the band and told people to go check them out. See this article [tripod.com], taken from Time Magazine Jan 28 2002.

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.

Re:MP3 id tags?

[harks]

I dont think most people download things that they haven't heard, unless you get word of mouth going on p2p chats. Still a good idea though.

Open Audio

[Milo Fungus]

Read up on the various ways to distribute your music under different licenses. I personally like the EFF Open Audio License [eff.org] Many musicians are reluctant to make their music free as in free speech, however, so a free as in free beer licence [mondodesigno.com] may be more palatable to begin with.

I would like to see more artists using free as in free speech licenses. Remember that you don't have to use the license for all of your album. Most licenses allow you to license individual songs. You could choose to release your singles on the license and then restrict copying of your album tracks. That way you get publicity for your album through legitimate filesharing, you contribute to the musical commons, and your CD sales increase - all at the same time.

You also don't have to worry about piracy. What you're doing is effectively out-competing pirates by giving away what they would steal. There will be no market for their stolen product if everyone could just get it from you.

Read up on the various licenses, decide how you want to do it, and give it a try. That's what I did when I encountered the idea of copylefting music. I also went a step further and tried to write a persuasive essay on the subject (which is harder than you would expect). Not only did I learn a lot of the standard arguements and objections in my research, but I also solidified my own opinion and viewpoint.

The Majors are probably right

[ryanvm]

The Majors generally act like they still have clue about what people want.

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.

Allow taping

[jcoleman]

Allow your audience to tape and trade your concerts freely.

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

[clinko]

Weezer.com keeps me coming back because they update their site daily. They put demos out all the time. All their videos are online. And tons of merchandise. Best Music Model i've seen yet.

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)

Re:Campus Net-Radio

[Hooya]

'Campus Net-Radio' is an awesome suggestion. On the other side of things, what is it that you're really looking for? if nationwide frenzy over your band is it then, my friend, you'll need to sell out. indie style is not for you. the only reason n-sync and the likes are nationwide is because the bigwigs are forcing air-play, arranging concerts, pushing them infront of every media thereby creating the mentality of 'they must be really popular with everybody else since they seem to be in such demand in every media. i must therefore like them too.'

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.

Two Words: Online Communities

[hotfootred]

My brother is in a situation much like yours. He's doing the garage band thing and trying to get discovered. Using the internet is the best thing he's done to get the word out on his band. Compile buddies on AIM, ICQ, newsgroups, message boards, groups, communities, whatever. This gives him a network of people. He meets people who know people who know people, and so on. It's all very Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Through the people he's met in chat rooms, communities, mailing lists, etc. he's made contact in very high places and his former band had some success getting signed to a label and making it onto a few compilation CDs. Get yourself known to people through communities, and never underestimate a person's curiosity. Put a link to your site in your sig, tell people where to download your mp3s (yes- use mp3s to get your music out there, you're not making any money right now anyway, so it's no skin off your teeth). BUILD A GOOD WEBSITE with your mp3s readily available and easy to download. This all worked for my brother and he has an incredible network of people that he can go to for things like website work (someone built him a great site for FREE just because they've kept in contact so long), gigs, a job writing music reviews, and even money to do things like start a small label (something my brother has recently started). It's all about building a network, and eventually the right person will hear about you. REcord companies get flooded with CDs from anonymous nobody bands, so the odds that anyone important will hear you is slim by going that route. Build relationships with people and you will eventually be heard by the right people.

Re:The Majors are probably right

[MAXOMENOS]

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.

I agree completely, but don't discount the power of sheer marketing. Britney Speers fits a lot of demographics (teenage girls, dirty old men), but her career is built on carefully researched, very thorough, and rather expensive mass-marketing.

My advice to the band: market the hell out of yourselves. Ani did it, Biafra did it, you can too.

You may not "make it"

[Paul Slocum]

On the internet it's much easier to distribute your music, so there are going to be a LOT more bands using it. In some ways, it will be even more difficult to get your band exposed in this new model.

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! :o)

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

Depends...

[Tiresias_Mons]

...on what you mean by "success". If you mean making good music and getting fans and playing shows then you're there. However, if you mean that you want to be the next Tool or *insert big name band here* then you either have to sell out, put in a ton of years in the hope that a non-evil record company signs you and can promote you, or just try it all from scratch with your own promotion and record company (see NOFX, MC Hammer (pre-Capital records, yadda yadda)). But yeah, I'm not in the business, so take this with a grain of salt, its just how I perceive it happening, I could be way off.

Flames Away!

Re:Skip Intro

[schon]

Suggestion #1: Don't make people click through layers to get what they want

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.

Re:You've been brainwashed

[arloguthrie]

There are plenty of bands that, though they may not have the level of exposure that the Britneys and Christinas and Avrils have, they have national attention. Sleater-Kinney [sleater-kinney.org], for example, are still on an independent label [killrockstars.com]. And they get seriously great press [yahoo.com]. The only thing they sell out is tickets to their concerts.

So I don't think you have to sell out to a major label. It sounds like the band in question here is doing everything right. But I think the trick is simply to be a really great band. Talk all you want about indie movies and indie music, but the real reason you don't hear about most of it is because it SUCKS. The key to success -- and I'm talking long-term, not flash in the pan -- is to have talent. To engage audiences and re-engage them time and time again. To challenge audiences but still be accessible. Just be a great band and work hard and the audience will come to you. Don't sell-out, but don't suck, either.

When the site isn't /.'ed, I'll be sure to check them out.

OR, just buy your market share

[mckwant]

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.

I thought about this a bit, and they don't really have to. Follow me down this road...

• ClearChannel has a playlist of exactly X songs on their "pop" stations.
• Because they can own (virtually) all the radio stations in a given market, they can break them out as they see, assigning one to pop, one to classic rock, one to hard rock, etc., etc..
• Given that, there's no competition for "pop" music.
• Given THAT, those X songs in the playlist ARE the top X songs in the pop demographic, practically by definition.

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.

Faulty Logic

[grip]

Uhh, six bands that make oodles of money do it, thus if you do it you will make oodles of money.

What about the other 8,371,649 bands that do it to, but are barely keeping the tour bus running?

grip

Tour. Constantly.

[Black Jack Hyde]

The Net should supplement a solid touring schedule. Heck, just keeping your site up to date with venues and times will put you ahead of a lot of the other bands out here. Any extra content won't hurt.

I'll go against the grain on the topic of fan taping. The Dead, Phish, etc, had massive followings because they played out so much. The taping was a bonus, but I doubt anyone needing a miracle would have attached a "free taping" rider to scoring tickets. Your discretion here.

Have you been in south by southwest [sxsw.com] yet?

I know you're looking for an online "silver bullet." But the music industry, assuming you wish to be part of that gleeful snakepit, doesn't seem to care much for the Internet's potential. Go figure.

Tour. Write more great songs and record them. Sell CDs and t-shirts. Your online push will come from your fanbase. Ride it like a wave, baby.

Jack