Kick-Start Your New Band

Assuming that your band has great music and you have a few gigs and a small fan base that follows you loyally! But you want to take your band out from your garage and onto the main stage. Here are a few free tips to get you started.


1. Success come to those who seem successful


Nowadays, creating an impressive on-line presence is next to nothing; with social networking sites growing in popularity, being a part of the wave will push you ahead of the competition. Plus, it is totally free to join and reach millions. If your band does not have it's own homepage (or would like to supplement it), create a Facebook or MySpace profile. An old saying goes: "Success comes to those who seem to be successful." Following that, have a bunch of pictures of your band on stage, put up your songs (preferably with a link for people to purchase your music, but more on that later), and add a lot of friends.


2. Give some free samples


Just like in the supermarket when they sample out hot pockets, you need to sample yourself out. First, on your social networking site, have your music for everyone to hear but also be on YouTube.com. It is really easy to create your own channel on YouTube and to upload your own videos. It's completely free to you and it's free global publicity. Anyone can subscribe to your channel and find out what you're all about! Now, start putting up videos from your performances, your members playing in your garage, and your music to a collage of pictures. The point is to have a bunch variety that will attract a bunch of people and to keep it coming. You might be thinking that this opens you up to people stealing your music and other sorts of pirating, and you're right! But sampling works, just like with those hot pockets in the supermarket.


3. Sell your music


Obviously, you want to sell your music; that's what it is all about! But nobody buys CDs anymore, and it's unlikely that you want to go from place to place with a suitcase full of CDs. Get yourself an iTunes, SNOCAP, Napster, or something to that effect account and put up your music for sale. Admitted, this is not completely free to you, they do demand a percentage fee for putting up your music (30% or so). Look at it like this though, you are making 70% and without them you'd be making 0.


All these tips will help you get recognized and get some money flowing. Obviously, they aren't a perfect substitute for an agent or a real marketer. An agent or marketer will help you make the actual connections; they know the right people. But if you feel confident, try talking to people you know who own clubs and bars to maybe get you to play. At least, when the decision maker Googles you they will see you as an established band to take seriously. It will most defiantly separate you from all those who didn't take the time to prepare themselves and it didn't cost you anything and took only a short amount to time

"Pay For Your Ticket And Don't Complain."

Until recent times indipendent musicians, unless they have a truckload of cash behind them, have had very limited control over the release of their material. Keen to have their music made available to the widest possible audience they 'climb aboard' the major distributors without giving much thought to alternative options.

iLike 'recommends' to artists to have at least one free download as an incentive for listeners to return. As I have mentioned elsewhere this seems to be a fruitless exercise for the artist.

ReverbNation also employs the same strategy. Not every song by artists on Reverbnation are available on iTunes as the listener may be led to believe. Again, artists are encouraged to make free downloads available as 'fan' incentives. Additionally ReverbNation has a 'band equity' ranking system. This is based on daily song plays, returning visitors, new fans and 'fan interaction.' I find that 'fan interaction' tends to be somewhat overdone by some artists. By sending letters to fans who have joined an artists mailing list the artists ranking seems to be given a substantial boost. This leads to artists sending messages to their mailing list that aren't particularly pertinent, hence people are more inclined to 'opt-out.'

After overlooking the most obvious means of making ones' music visible to as wide an audience as possible I have recently released the album "Bullet" via Nimbit. This allows the artist the freedom to release material on the exact day that they wish to and have the ability to set what they think is a fair price.

Nimbit charges 20% for this freedom. They have a free account, which I am using, and two paid accounts which offer CD replication, merchandise, e-tickets and so forth.

I have placed my Nimbit store on my website, the "Bob Findlay Music Page" on Facebook (a new collaboration), MySpace and below. Each store has a tracking code for sales (if there are any) which enables artists to view where most sales are coming from and (hopefully) correlate 'why.'

The upcoming weeks/months I shall be following each store with interest. Hopefully a few other folks might be as well.