Your Music Career: Taking It To The Next Step

CHECKLIST - The basics for taking the next step up and promoting yourself effectively...
TOOLS TO CREATE PUBLICITY - What you need to get together to create that buzz...
MUSIC CAREER TIPS - 12 steps to building your music career...

By Jeff Fulton - NZ Music Managers Forum | CHART Manager www.christchurchmusic.org.nz

Four Areas Vital to the Development of a Successful Music Career
1) Great Songs
2) Great Live Show
3) Strong Visual Image
4) Regular Communication (fans/industry/media)

CHECKLIST
The basics items needed for taking the next step up and marketing yourself effectively

* Plan - Work out what are you trying to achieve and put an action & promo plan together to suit with realistic milestones and timelines ie. 2 year project with what you want to achieve. Useful for funding applications.
* Band Agreement - work what would happen to who when, to save any arguments.
* Presskit - well-written bio, photo's, press release, music CD, reviews, email signature, contact info.
* Quality Recordings - EP/CD/DVD with full quality audio (aiff) and compressed audio (mp3).
* Bio - 1 page only, describe your music in 1st sentence, add quotes, reviews, contact details.
* Profile - 4 line description or 'elevator pitch' of your band.
* Photo's - hi res/low res portrait/landscape colour and black and white jpegs and press (300dpi). Minimum 4.
* Band Logo - in colour & black and white, jpeg and print ready.
* Fanbase - take photo's/video of recording, gigs, tours as proof that you have fans!
* Mailing List - friends, fans, media, industry contacts for communicating with fans & industry.
* Website/s - Myspace, Facebook, Bandcamp, Flickr, Youtube, TradeMe and ideally your own website with database, e-commerce.
* Live Show Kit - Live Show Poster (make it bold, big and eye-catching), Production Rider, Stage Plot, Door Sheet.

Keep it all in a folder on your desktop for easy access.

MUSIC CAREER TIPS

1) Have A Plan With Realistic Goals

When making music finishing a song might feel like the final step but if you don’t have a label or any other kind of marketing/admin team that’s planning your next steps - how to book gigs and all other music activities, it’s important that you make some planning, listening and learning on your own.

Talk to people about your style and genre and work out your resources, do you have the passion and commitment to be a full-time musician? Know your limits, is your music commercially orientated (will it sell?) or are you just keen to just play with your friends? Are you a live band, (do you need a booking agent, a tour manager?) or are you a recording artist? (do you need a label, or can you do it yourself?). Is your music suited to film & tv? (ie. do you need a publisher?) - Work out what are you trying to achieve and put a plan together to suit with realistic milestones and timelines.

Set as many goals you want to reach, separating into short-term and long-term e.g. 'let's make this a 2 year project'. List many small 'to-dos' will help you reach your goals. Don’t aim for steps that you are likely not to achieve and be realistic. It’s a great feeling ticking them off when done and it will encourage and provide you with energy to move on. Google Docs is a great way for bands to share and save documents.

Work out a budget about what it will cost for recording, replication, distribution, promotion, press kits, advertising, live shows. Funding is always available (you'll need things like business & marketing plans, evidence supporting your relevant successes, references, etc) but not essential and shouldn't be relied on. Endorsement & Sponsorship is also worth looking at.

Have a listen to John Watson (Manager Silverchair, Wolfmother) about gaining momentum and 'getting the ball rolling'.

2) Really Learn Your Craft

Focus on playing that instrument as well as you can, really work on your songs and get some independent feedback from someone who you might not know personally but their opinion is respected. Make sure there are no weak links in the band... do you have a strong, capable and unique vocalist and drummer? People standup and take notice of distinctive vocals and they always say 'bands are only as good as their drummer'. Training is available and make your live show as entertaining as possible.

3) Be Professional

Be polite and respectful when dealing with people in the music industry. It is a very small scene in NZ which you can work to your advantage. Pick 10 people that will be able to best assist your band and contact them via email in the first instance and then follow it up by a phone-call (don’t text!) but be patient and persistent. Add an signature to your email with contact details, weblinks and upcoming shows and get a spreadsheet together of music contacts and add to it regularly - its also your mailing list and you never know when you may need to contact that person you spoke to a year ago.

4) Carefully Plan Your Visual Image and 'Story'

Build your Press Kit with your target market in mind (who are your fans, how do they by music, what do they read/listen to?) and demonstrate your 'Point of Difference' (c/o Derek Sivers, CDBaby.com). In a competitive industry you need to be able to demostrate and explain why you are different and more interesting.

Use an interesting angle in your bio (1 page max), logo, profile/pen portrait (5-6 line blurb for websites), photo's, digital flyers, posters, website/s and (separate) press release. People often read the first line only so you need a ‘hook’. Look at bands who are perhaps similar in genre to you who are marketing themselves well - promote your band at every opportunity! Get your music reviewed as referral is still one of the best ways to attract new fans, plus you can use the reviewers quotes in your bio, press releases, etc.
Invite media/industry to
your gigs or to visit your sites and perhaps provide you with a description of your music that you can use in your
press release.

5) Get the Best Recordings Possible, Photograph & Film Everything

Make your music as great as it can be, take your time and get plenty of objective opinions and feedback on it - as your friends and family will only tell you how great it is! You need a quality demo/EP/CD of at least 3 songs that you can proudly put your name to and even sell at your gigs. Using reknowned studios, engineers/producers and mastering can not only maximise your investment but also help you build 'your story' when it comes to releasing it. Buy, hire or borrow a video camera and record the whole recording process for use in your videos. Find a music video producer and start your own Youtube page.

6) Understand Copyright & Revenue Streams

Learn about the 2 distinct copyrights and how each has revenue streams.
1) Musical Work (the song) - APRA, Publishers
2) Sound Recording (the physical recording of the song) - Labels, PPNZ
Join APRA (its free) and register all your songs with the songwriter splits. You will then get paid for broadcast (radio, tv) and live performances.

It might even be worth setting up your own label to co-ordinate physical and digital distribution. Talk to IMNZ about the benefits of registering your own independent label and ways of selling your music (eg. SNOWCAP) direct to your fanbase. Also you can now make your CD sales at gigs count towards the national sales charts.

Get an understanding about all the revenue streams available to musicians, joining the NZ Music Managers Forum can assist with this. Look at a band agreement to save any arguments down the track.

7) Add Value

Perhaps combine your CD with a DVD with your video or images. Package your material professionally and always label your disks and cover including the spine. If you are selling your CD or looking to send promotional copies of your EP around the industry then if budget allows, seriously consider presenting it in a full CD size jewel case... think about all those slimline cases which get lost in your CD rack at home? You want to be recognisable and remembered so label them professionally - you never know who might end up with a copy! CD wallets can be more durable and cheaper to produce than plastic jewel cases. Learn more about releasing your album yourself.

8) Create An Online Profile - Promote! Promote! Promote!

Social networking site MySpace is clunky but still a music industry standard (Facebook is rapidly catching up) regardless, you need to ensure both are viewable and accessible to the public. Most networking sites are free and you can upload your bio, photo’s, songs and embed your YouTube video’s. Potential fans, Media, Labels/Distributors, Publishers, Agents, Promoters, etc use these profiles to quickly and easily check out an artist’s profile. Treat it like your business card and keep it simple, clean and easy to load. Bandcamp is another great sire where you can stream your music and choose the format and quality of your downloads, plus you can get stats from where your hits come from.

List your profile in as many places online as you can. Spread the word! Get and create accounts on Youtube, Last.fm, imeem.com and mog.com - as you have press releases, music, etc post them on these sites and link them back to your website URL. These profiles should be brief and easy to read and understand,
you want to convert them to fans and ideally get them to click through and sign up to your
own site. Keep them clean with only a few photo's and video's so they are easy to load, always add friends. Ping.fm is a great way of upating all your social networking sites in one go.

Here are some myspace tips & mistakes.

9) Focus On Building Your Fanbase & Communicating with Fans, Media, Industry

Ultimately you want your own bands website - here you can communicate with your fanbase / community and add all the video and photo's you like, sell CD's, mp3's, video's, merchandise, webcasts and more. Ask a friend to design one or at the very least get set up your own website (read How Do I Start) with a database, an e-commerce shop, blog and make it attractive, simple and easy to navigate - give your fans a reason to come back regularly.

Your fans are your consumers so treat them well, keep them informed and engage with them regularly through email, your own website and your networking webpages. The internet is an essential medium and artists are using it to build profile and exposure, gain sponsorship, access fans and sell their music and merchandise. Make sure you build a database/mailing list into the backend of your website and manage it appropriately - you can't inundate your fans ad infinitum, you've got to give something back... and the music must be good. A regular email update will create traffic back to your own website. If you don't have a website, try a formatted email service or document hosting page that you can send around. Fanbridge.com is another fan database builder. Find a local web developer or do it yourself.

Make a list of 10 relevant music industry champions/press/people that can help and contact them personally to find out what genres or angles they print/support and find out their deadlines. Target them with your press releases (see How To Write A Press Release) and as if they would like to see a shortened version of your Electronic Press Kits (EPK's are becoming more apparent using SonicBids and other web/email applications) or Myspace/Website.

Here's a link to the top 10 most useful sites to musicians.

10) Hone Your Live Show & Work Your Local Market As Hard As You Can

NZ is a relatively easy country to play, produce and release your own music. Labels, Publishers, Sponsors, etc want to be shown that you can fill a room, have a fan-base and therefore want to be a part of this - make sure you get photograph or video footage of all aspects of your world. NZ is relatively easy to tour too, so learn what its like to play 3 shows in and around the region of your home town and if planning on touring overseas try playing 3 nights in both islands before considering taking off. Here are some local venue contacts and tips on getting gigs.

11) Network

Every week talk to other bands, labels, managers, industry types and if you need to reach out and ask for help. There are many experienced, savvy and passionate people in music organisations out there that can give you a tip, a name, or a push in the right direction and give you that early break. This is not an industry that supports a solitary path, you need help, you need expertise, and you need experience. There's nothing wrong with getting assistance. Educate yourself - about the international markets, about who the right people are to speak to, about how to approach them, about how to strike up relationships. Use the tools that CHART, NZMC, RIANZ, APRA and other music industry bodies provide.

VERY IMPORTANT: Don't send unsolicited MP3's or post CD's to industry without first sending a courtesy email or phonecall. It is highly likely they will ignore anything that hasn't been qualified first and often you only get one shot at it... so make it count!

12) Attitude

Always remember Why You Are Doing It - enjoy it, love it, express your passion and dedication and pride and most importantly do everything possible in your power to make it great. A willingness to work and keep building that perception of momentum means pushing yourself, stretching yourself and believing in yourself. Get out there and get busy!

Not a musician but want to work in the industry? Then checkout Music As A Career

TOOLS TO CREATE PUBLICITY
c/o Rebecca Caughey

a) Press Kit - well-written bio, hi res photo, press release, CD & contact info.
b) Local News - Target and contact local media - music editors, columnists, entertainment editors.
c) Networking - social networking, adding friends, updating music, gig dates
d) Radio - Send your CD to local DJ's.
e) Websites - Always looking for reviews, contact editor first before sending in your release/tour news.
f) Videos - Music vid's and live performances on Youtube.
g) Magazines - Send CD's to appropriate genre specific mag's, find particular journo and direct it to them.
h) Live Shows - Do a mini-tour around venues in your region in a weekend, call it a tour and start contacting media.

Also checkout:
Advice for starting musicians (Marko www.helloecho.com)
101 Band Promotion Ideas (www.unsignedbandpromotion.com)
Bob Lefsetz's tips on 'Doing Business' online
10 Best Practices of Online Music Promotion (www.onlinefandom.com)
New Music Strategies
Promotion & Publicity
Myspace Tips & Mistakes
Music Think Tank
Other CHART Articles, Blog/Networking Links and Resources.

The last word belongs to Bob Lefsetz

"Great music can still be made. And good stuff is sold by word of mouth. Which has the advantage of being instant and vast on the Internet. You can't control the public the way you used to be able to, you can't manipulate the consumer. Quality is the start, a relationship is second and managing this connection is third. Most of this requires sweat equity more than cash. Start perspiring."

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by Christopher Knab - Updated January 2008