Posts tagged promotion
An audience with Skyrocket Love
Jul 23rd
Sky Rocket Love
Real music makes us feel all tingly inside
Favorite decade for music?
Probably 70’s and 80’s…. and 90’s (We disagree a lot)
Do you think artists these days are too Manufactured?
Absolutely, a lot of them anyways
Do you think there is to much attention on Fashion within Music?
We all know russ wishes he could play music in his “Buttwiswer” T-shirt all the time.
What do you think of the current Music scene?
Well there is definitely some room for improvement……..
Who is your Guitar hero?
Eddie Van Halen and Satchel from Steel Panther … and Jonny Greenwood
What qualities do you think artists need?
You can’t define what an artist is, its subjective.
Favorite singer of all time?
Steven Tyler, Bono, and Thom Yorke
Name one act who is similar in sound to you?
The Killers
What is your definition of a well written song?
A good hook, solid form, and makes you feel tingly
What level of success do you hope to achieve from your Music?
We just want to share our music with as many people as we can
What do you think of talent competitions?
Talent competitions are over rated
How do you feel about famous Music Managers such as Simon Cowell?
If they came knocking we might answer to say the least…
Do you think the Music Industry is a flooded market?
Over the internet it is very flooded however on the radio it is very controlled.
Why should people go and listen to your Music?
Because we’re awesome
Do you think CD’s will become like dinosaurs?
No probably more like drink coasters
Do you think there is any money to be made in recorded music anymore?
Most of the big money all comes from touring these days
What part of being a Musician/Band do you like most?
Being able to play in front of tons of people is definitely part of it.
What is the one problem you feel is holding your music career back?
Finding the right people to get us to the next level
Do you find it easy to write songs?
Some tend to come easier than others, some you can tell are just meant to be.
Who do you think is the best songwriter of all time?
Lennon/McCartney
Which Band/Artist are you embarrassed to admit you like listening to?
Miley Cyrus…shes got a sexy voice
How did you get your first gig?
Universal Bar and Grill invited us
How did your first gig go?
Good for a first gig
Any advice for artists trying to find Gigs?
Be wary of anyone who makes a lot of promises, but asks for money
upfront.
Where do you see yourself in 6 months time?
The Skyrocket Love van…. down by the river!!!!!!
Where do you see yourself in 12 months time?
A tour bus down by the river
Have you ever played an outdoor Music Festival?
Yeah in Vegas and we’re playing Evel Knievel Days
How do you generally promote your Band?
Skyrocket Love Condoms and internet stuff…
Do you struggle to pull in people through the doors at gigs?
Its getting easier and easier to draw people as we build a fan base.
Do you think social networking is useful to Promoting your Music?
Yes, its essential.
Do you think there is enough opportunities to get exposure?
There’s opportunities. You just have to be on top of it and take advantage of them.
Who is your favorite upcoming artist?
The Temper Trap, the Broken Bells but they’re more of a super group really. http://www.thetempertrap.com/ http://www.brokenbells.com/home.html
Any music achievements?
We won Music Aid’s Best Band of 2009, the DIY Music Festival in 2010, and Music180’s Theatre Contest last month.
For more information on Skyrocket Love please visit Skyrocketlove.com
An Interview with Monarch
Jun 2nd
How do you generally promote your Band?
Word of mouth, a few posters and lots of myspace/facebook time
Do you think social networking is useful to Promoting your Music?
Absolutely
Rock Links:I see you are a Band of many words!
How did your first gig go?
The first time we (Jimmy, Jesse, and Warren) played with Brennan we didn’t have the ability to rehearse. So taking a few hours to listen to the tracks, we showed up at the gig and played through the set without ever playing it together. It went well considering, but sounds much better now…
How did you get your first gig?
From a local bar owner who listened to our music online
What is the on problem you feel is holding your music career back?
Exposure. As I said earlier we always receive a positive response from the listener, just need more of them!
Which Band/Artist are you embarrassed to admit you like listening to?
…Brennan really enjoys a good dose of Adult Contemporary Female Pop Stars…
For more information on Monarch check out myspace.com/monarch.band
Broccoli Events – UK Events and Promoters
Apr 14th
What’s new? Broccoli Events is new!
Having worked as promoters in the UK new music scene for the past 5 years it seems like an obvious and natural progression to add an events company to Broccoli Music and that’s exactly what they’ve done.
Events and music go hand in hand so Broccoli Events has an advantage on the rest with sister company Broccoli Music feeding them the best emerging artists on the scene. Companies want links into the youth market and thats what Broccoli Events has the ability to offer. Companies like XFM and Nokia were using Broccoli Music’s connection with bands and the scene that comes with them to link to the youth market and this is a valuble tool that Broccoli Events has to offer to clients.
So what do they do? They do parties, that’s what they’re known for, be it a private party, after show party, brand launch or beyond. They work closely with you developing ideas and designing an event package that ticks all the boxes.
What else is different? They have access to a network of affiliates, all of which are proven industry professionals, so whatever the event requires they can put together a specialist team.
Broccoli Events are always on the look out to add to their team of affiliates so check out the website and get in touch.
Showreel
An Interview with SkyRocket Love – Upcoming Unsigned Band
Mar 12th
Sky Rocket Love
What Rock Links thinks of SkyRocket Love
SkyRocket Love seem to be the first american Band not to sound like an american Band, which to us is a breath of fresh Atlantic air! They seem to have some good solid song structures, catchy rhythms and use backing vocals very effectively. In a nutshell we like!
How did the Band first get together?
Merritt: I’m from Iowa City, Iowa. Jeremy is from Tampa, Florida. We met out in Los Angeles through a mutual friend and hit it off right away. We both liked a lot of the same stuff and we could each do stuff that the other one couldn’t so it quickly became clear that we should work together.
Jeremy: In life and in music we both understood things in different lights but still seemed to find a common ground which summed up to the same conclusion, “we should work together”. This ultimately led to the formation of Skyrocket Love.
What makes you different to other Bands?
Merritt: We care as much as anyone could. We pour everything into the music, we answer every email or message from a fan, and with the help of a few people who are sticking up for us – we do everything ourselves.
Jeremy: We bring something that hasn’t been seen for a very long time. I’ll sure try to make it that way, at least.
Do you think there is enough opportunities for Bands to get noticed?
Merritt: There are more opportunities, but there better be, because there are more bands than ever right now. The barriers to entry to have come way down; anyone can record their own music now and distribute it online. Now, it’s just a matter of distinguishing yourself in this sea of content.
Jeremy: I think there are a lot of opportunities to get noticed for us, even though the industry is so saturated now. If you bring something new and unique to the table and you have a good following, then someone’s going to notice you sooner or later.
What are your views on the current Music scene?
Merritt: The label system has been the mechanism that has connected bands to the capital they need to promote with, and since the label system is in dissaray, they’re left to fend for themselves. Most people in bands are artists, not promoters so its obviously tough. It’s going to be a rough transitional period, but as the sorting mechanisms get better on the internet, I think what will emerge is a system that will be much more fair and democratic.
Jeremy: It’s even more difficult now than it used to be for any artist or band to make it. I think a lot of bands today struggle with just being themselves and being original since it’s all been done before. Plus, people can promote themselves online and get signed just from that. On the other hand, there are some positive things about all the internet self promotion that we can use to our advantage.
Do you prefer buying CD’s to Downloads? Explain why
Merritt: I’d rather download it so It’s already on my computer. It just removes a step from the process and makes it easier to listen. CD’s are pretty much functionally dead. They’ll still have value because of the insert, the artwork and the physical connection you can have to the music, but it will more and more become only something that is sought after by fans and collectors, not casual listeners. I still do buy my favorite bands’ CDs.
Jeremy: Downloading is usually more convenient and saves time. I’d still buy a cd that was worth it, though.
How did you get your first booking for a gig?
Merritt: We’ve had to do a lot of it on our own, but we’ve also been fortunate to have a really strong group of people around helping and advising us. Every show we’ve played have been either booked by us or by friends of the band.
Jeremy: Most of it has been on our own and with our amazingly supportive friends and fans.
Do you have a favourite Unsigned Band?
Merritt: The Capitals have this song, “A Spectre Is Haunting” that is really good. http://www.thesixtyone.com/#/s/CwaEAp9X3c4/
Do you use social networking to promote your Band?
Merritt: Definitely. The social networks have given people a chance to quickly and easily share the music that they’re listening to.
Jeremy: Yes, that’s a huge part of our marketing that we use. We’ve developed relationships with our fans this way
To find out more about SkyRocket Love visit http://www.skyrocketlove.com or http://www.myspace.com/skyrocketlove
41 ways to promote your Music or Band
Mar 9th
1) Make sure people have resources available to find out more about you. Websites, Myspace, Facebook and Twitter
2) Make sure people can easily find out how to find those resources.
3) Word of Mouth is best the form of promotion! Give them something to talk about
4) Get involved with your local Music scene. Go along to local Gigs, see other Bands, get to know promoters and network.
5) Get some Business Cards printed, vistaprint.com offer 250 for free!
Please note, Rock Links is a free resource and we don’t offer any form of membership. Please show your support for Rock Links by taking the time to check out our below sponsors. Article Continued below Video.
6) Brand your Music, get an eye catching logo designed.
7) Set up a mailing list, notifylist.com, aardvarkmailinglist.net, yourmailinglistprovider.com, freelists.org
8 Set up a Blog wordpress.com www.blogger.com and write about your Music, other Music anything that will pull in readers. Make sure you write about well known artists similar to your Music style, by doing this you will attract fans for that artist and will then be able to market your Music to those fans.
9) Get involved in Music sites, forums and internet radio. There are hundreds of Music sites available and some of them only concentrate on certain music styles. Target the small ones and they will love to have you onboard, then the big sites will follow suit. Music forums are also brilliant for promoting music, include your website links in your signature and your traffic will grow.
10) Keep your fans updated. Read my article on how to do this easily
11) Start a video advertising campaign, upload videos to youtube.com, vimeo.com and www.muzu.tv. Ideally you want to upload music videos, if you don’t have one then create video blogs talking about your music or reviewing other artists that are similar to you. For example if your Music sounds a lot like The Beatles then review The Beatles or make a video which has a connection with the Beatles. Include your website details at the end of the video and in the Descriptions and Tags that go along with the video. This way whenever someone searches for the beatles, your video has a chance of appearing and interest will lead them to your site. Another handy tip is to also have your username as your domain name. For example my username on youtube is rocklinkscouk.
12) Get more Twitter followers, the average rule with twitter is the more people your follow the more followers you get back. Tweetadder.com is a really cool tool to automate the process of following people, not only that you can also target certain twitter members by interests and location. For example a keyword could be Music, and a location Portsmouth, tweet adder will then find users in Portsmouth who have the keywords music in their profile. Now you should be able to see the awesome power of this tool!
13) Add a Twitter widget to your Website or Myspace. Login to your Twitter account and click on Gadgets at the bottom.
14) Create a page on Facebook so people can be come a fan. Invite all your friends to become a fan.
15) Add a Facebook Page widget to your website, so your website users can become a fan.
16) Be social on your social networks
17) Start a local magazine? Like our good friend Nick J Townsend did
18) By a shed load of custom printed t-shirts and give them out for free. When everyone turns up at your gig in the same t-shirt it really attracts attention. I know for a fact this works as I have done this on a number of occasions.
19) Appear on Videos and TV, a prime time slot on itv3 might be hard to come by but not impossible (there are loads of big name acts who have been discovered this way). If your not lucky enough to get these opportunities then create your own, send emails to film organizations, art councils and anyone involved with film. You can also attract attention by contacting small film companies and another good idea is to contact extreme sports style websites who create sports videos.
20) Create a lens (a page) at squidoo.com it really does create a wealth of traffic for your site
Please note, Rock Links is a free resource and we don’t offer any form of membership. Please show your support for Rock Links by taking the time to check out our below sponsors. Article Continued below Video
21) Create a decent Press Release, I personally feel press packs have become extinct. If someone is seriously interested in working with your Music the first place they will go is your myspace or website.
22) Contact Newspapers and Magazines
23) Offer freebies everyone loves Badges and Stickers!
24) Get out on the streets and talk to people about your Music, invite them to you upcoming Gigs.
25) Contact Radio stations, radio is a massive asset to promoting Music. Luckily there is a lot of National and Local Radio stations opening their doors to unknown Artists. Use this to your full advantage.
26) Get involved with a charity. By scratching their back they will also scratch yours.
27) Create an account at eventful.com
28) Start a text service, like the t-mobile advert or using a service such as txtlocal.com
29) Make people feel apart of what your doing, you should make time for everyone who comes along to your gigs.
30) Contact build, it’s what makes the Music Industry work.
31) Start a facebook event for every gig. This has always been successful for my own gigs you can also persuade other people to invite their friends. Make sure you do periodic status updates reminding people of the gig.
32) Go round local Music Shops, get to know the staff and ask if you can leave some promo gear in the shop. I find a lot of music shops actively try to promote the local music scene.
33) Create a Last.fm account!
34) Start podcasting, they weirdly attract a lot of attention.
35) Pay a professional photographer to take some snaps of you.
36) Get your Music reviewed
37) Get Interviewed
38) Place carefully positioned Posters around your local area, cafes, bars, clubs, venues ect
39) Flyers are handy when used effectively. I wouldn’t suggest handing them out willy nilly. Use them to your advantage at Gigs, leave them on tables, at the bar, hand them to people as they leave a venue. If your Band is playing that night then great, if someone likes your music they will more than likely pick up a flyer and keep hold of it.
40) Get involved with local Music sites
41) Leave a comment below with a link to your website. If you have another method of Promoting Music that I haven’t mentioned above then please add it below.
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Promote and Market your Music easily with RSS Feeds
Mar 8th
I recently made a video tutorial showing Musicians how you can use RSS Feeds to effectively Market and Promote your Music, the video is below.
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Why you should indentify 3 selling points to Promote and sell Your Music
Mar 3rd
I have a little saying that i say to most Band’s “it’s about time your turned your Band into a Brand”, although i’m not directly writing this article about branding your Band, it does come under the same bracket. From when you walk past a product on the shelf in Asda to driving past a billboard on the M3, they all you use the same principles to get your juices flowing. Every product or service that is advertised identifies 3 selling points for that product and it should be the same for your Music. Most people who read an advertisement will make a decision on that product or service within 10 seconds, if they haven’t identified keywords that interests them in a product they will most likely put it back on the shelf. If you think of your Music as a product you will start to see how advertising your Music properly is important, by identifying 3 selling points about your Music that will grab the reader within 10 seconds you will more than likely generate more interest. The Human mind is very curious so make full use of this fact!
Please note, Rock Links is a free resource and we don’t offer any form of membership. Please show your support for Rock Links by taking the time to check out our below sponsors. Article Continued below Video.
So how do you identify selling points?
Selling points are everywhere, back in 2008 Rock Links was awarded an Innovation and Entrepreneurial Business award, so one of our key selling points is “The Award Winning Rock Links”, maybe your Music has won an award? Maybe you won a talent contest?
I happen to know a few all Lesbian girl Bands, imagine walking past a poster with the words “Band name! The all Lesbian Girl Band”. It provokes interest to read more!
Have you been featured on a National or Local Radio Station? In my local area we have Heart FM, although i don’t think they actually play Unsigned Acts i’m sure other local Radio Stations do, so again “Band Name! As featured on Radio FM”.
Maybe your age is a key factor? Maybe you under 16? Maybe your over 60? Again this provokes interest.
Maybe your a Country/Electronic/Funky/Banjo Playing act? Now that i would like to see!
Other key selling Points
Genre style, Size (maybe you have 8 Band members), fashion, bizarre instruments used, connection with a charity, jedward hairstyles, Free Music, Cover Songs, Endorsements, maybe your all born in the same city / town? (people love to support local people), basically anything that sets you apart from the rest that people can relate to or would want to know more about.
Please note, Rock Links is a free resource and we don’t offer any form of membership. Please show your support for Rock Links by taking the time to check out our below sponsors. Article Continued below Video.
Once you have identified your key selling points, make sure they are the first thing anyone reads, your Myspace, Website, Press Releases, Artwork, Posters, Facebook, Twitter, i’m sure your getting the picture. Like i have previously said, you have about 10 seconds to ‘catch’ the persons attention, choose your selling points wisely and the rewards will be more interest in your Music, it’s guaranteed and has been used by marketers since the first roman sandal hit the south coast!
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