A&R Training (The Palace Way): May 2013

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Social Media Marketing – Redefining “Return on Investment”

In business, return on investment – or ROI – traditionally translates to “How much money did we make on that promotion or venture?” This doesn’t translate so neatly to a social media marketing campaign, or your general social media efforts, because at its heart, social media is a conversation tool, not a sales tool.

Because of this, many musicians, entrepreneurs, and even well-established brands find themselves struggling with the concept of spending hard-earned (and limited) funds on any sort of social media marketing strategy. It’s understandable. If you invest $1,000 into a promotion, wouldn’t you like to know that you’ll be able to draw a direct line to the resulting revenues that are made from album sales, ticket sales, merch sales, etc.?

It would be nice, but the truth is you probably won’t be able to. The purpose of social media is not, in and of itself, to increase sales. Social media is a suite of tools that can be used to engage with a target market. It exists to help people, bands, and brands reach out to existing and potential fans to:

Have conversations
Build trust
Increase visibility and influence

So the question becomes: “If social media has no direct relationship to sales, how do I measure its ROI?” It will help if you start by defining realistic expectations of your social media marketing campaigns so you can effectively measure the ROI of your social media efforts.

Market research
As an emerging musician, understanding who your fans are can help you on every level. From putting together a content strategy, to creating a product line, to planning a tour, and even the set list for each show, understanding exactly who your fans are, where they live, what they are interested in, and what drives them can help you take the guess work out of how you present the public face of your act.

Whether you are focusing your marketing on a local, national, or even global scale, social media has the power to do just this and should be considered as a critical focal point of any social media campaign.

What is your ROI here?
A better understanding of your target market helping to you create a more direct path to a successful, sustainable fan base.

There are several things you can examine that will help you to better identify your fans:

1. Demographics (age, location)

Understanding the age and location of your fans will help you to book shows more effectively and develop products (e.g., merch, formats for your music) that are most appropriate for your fan base.

This information is quite easily obtained online, as most social media platforms give you at least basic analytics that include demographics. However, if you’re looking for a more robust set of tools, there are dedicated analytics services available such as Next Big Sound and Hootsuite that allow you to drill down deeper into your target market to get to know them better.

2. Psychographics (attitudes, interests, values)

Understanding the interests, values, and attitude of your fan base is the key to creating a consistent, compelling content strategy, which is critical to building your band’s visibility, relevance, and influence online.

Finding this information online may take a bit more digging. The most obvious and direct way to find this information is to simply ask your fans by way of a survey. Two inexpensive survey options are Survey Monkey and Poll Daddy, which can be shared through all social platforms as well as your blog and newsletter.

Of course, another way to find this information is to take a sample of your fan base and explore their social media habits:

What pages have they “liked” on Facebook?
What topics are they tweeting about?
Do they like sharing photos?
What is the subject matter of the content that they are sharing online (personal, tech, entertainment, religious, political, etc.)?

This may take time, but doing a survey as well as taking a sample and diving in further can help you identify key psychographics that were previously hidden to you.

3. What time (of the day AND day of the week) your fans are actually online
Critical to building engagement is understanding exactly when your fans (or target fans) are actually online to maximize your efforts and make sure they’re receiving your message. There are too many studies that show conflicting data regarding when you should post, tweet, or email, and that is because each market is different. You need to know when YOUR fans are online, not when “the average person” is online.

There are services available, such as SocialBro and Crowdbooster, that can analyze your posts, tweets, etc., and tell you exactly which times are the most likely for your content to be engaged with.

Capturing “super fans” via a mailing list
Once you have identified your fans, the next logical step is to find a way to capture their email addresses so that they can be marketed to directly for things like new product releases, tours, and whatever exclusive offerings you can come up with.

This is done most effectively by capturing your fans through a mailing list, which is ultimately the ONLY way to achieve direct interaction with your fans because, remember, your fans have to be online in order for your posts to be engaging. Online posts are often missed, but a direct email will be waiting for your fans in their own personal inbox.

This action of capturing fans is a fantastic way to frame a social media management campaign as it can give you a tangible number to focus on – building your list is a growth percentage number that actually matters.

What is the ROI of a social media campaign that focuses on building mailing list subscribers?
In short, it’s the ’80/20 rule.’ This economics concept, which states that 80% of the world’s wealth comes from 20% of the world’s population, can be translated to the music business – 80% of a musician’s revenue will come from the top 20% most loyal fans.

Whether these percentages are exactly correct or not isn’t the point. What IS the point is that if you can find and capture your most loyal fans, you have a way to directly interact with and sell to those who are likely to make up the majority of your overall revenue.

There are almost too many email management services to name, but Fanbridge, Reverbnation, and Mail Chimp are all great options for musicians looking to build a mailing list and start a newsletter.

Each of the above services all offer something called an “e-for-m” widget (email for media) that allows you to offer your fans some piece of media, be it a song, video, PDF, etc., in exchange for an email address.

This widget can be embedded into your website, blog, Facebook fan page, and anywhere else that allows you to use HTML embed code (similar to a YouTube video). The trick to effectively capture your super fans is to:

1. Offer something exclusive and worthwhile. Email can be a very personal thing since it goes with people everywhere they go. Fans need to feel like they are truly getting something of value in return for giving their email address away.

2. Maintain an active newsletter. This means that once per month, you should have a newsletter that is sent out with a personal message, exclusive content, and one specific call to action. (NOTE: For a newsletter, more is NOT better. Unless you have content to support your outreach, sending out a newsletter too frequently can result in a large number of unsubscribes).

Engagement and chatter
If the fundamental purpose of social media is to be a conversation tool (not a sales tool), than an obvious frame for a social media campaign should be just that… measuring the level of conversations that take place because of the campaign.

These conversations can be broken down into separate categories: engagement and chatter. Engagement is the internal conversations taking place between you and your fans. Chatter is the external conversations started by others (bloggers, podcasters, fans, etc.) about you.

What is the ROI of a social media campaign that focuses on chatter/ engagement?
While this type of analysis is a bit more abstract than others that have specific, tangible results you can analyze, this campaign will give you a boost in overall visibility and influence within your niche. It is this influence and visibility (aka credibility) that is often the missing piece of the puzzle that opens doors to new opportunities that can help you take your career to the next level.

Engagement will always be most easily tracked through your own social analytics (as mentioned earlier). Chatter is a bit more difficult because this is an external conversation and won’t be tracked by your internal social analytics reports. But not to fret, there is an excellent, free option for you to use!

Google Alerts will track and report any time your name (or any other key word that you set, such as an album name, track name, etc.) pops up on the Internet. Once an alert is created, Google will report any mentions of the targeted keywords back to you via email at your desired frequency (these reports can be sent anywhere from monthly all the way down to real time, sending a new email every time a new mention is indexed by Google).

Framing social media to fit your needs
The options above are not the only ways to frame a social media campaign. The reality is that as long as you understand that social media is simply a conversation tool, and not a sales tool, you can frame a campaign utilizing these tools in any way that makes sense for your own goals and career path.

We would love to hear from all of you below in the form of a comment to discuss how YOU have framed your social media campaigns in order to effectively track ROI.

Social Thermometer image via ShutterStock.com.

Jon Ostrow is the Campaigns Director for Cyber PR. Follow him on Twitter @jon_ostrow.

10 Things Bands Can Do to Book More Live Shows

Assuming that you have strong songs and an kickass live show, here are ten simple things you can do to get more gigs:

1. Create a YouTube channel for your band.

Upload a live performance video on YouTube that represents your band at its best. Include a phone number and e-mail address too, so that anyone who wants to book you can contact you easily. Say something like “Contact ________ to book us for a live show.” To show professionalism and interest, try your best to respond to every inquiry within 48 hours.

2. Print up nice business cards

…with your band name, links to your music, live videos, and a phone number and e-mail address that can be reached for booking purposes. Also, include a link to your website so they can learn more about you. You’d be surprised how many bands STILL write down their phone numbers on dirty napkins and torn pieces of paper. Wherever you go, tell people who you are, how good you are, where you are playing next, and how easy it is for them to book you directly.

3. Go watch other bands that sound like you.

If there are any bands in your area with large followings, get out to a couple shows and become friends with other bands. Ask the bigger bands to let you open for them, maybe in exchange for some kind of help like designing a website, flyer, banner, etc. The harder you work for a band bigger than your band, and the more respectful you are to them and their efforts, the more likely they will consider you for an opening slot. Talk up how good your band is and why you are better than similar bands in the area.

4. Tell your fans how easy it is to book you.

Wherever you play – the street, house party, club or major venue, make sure your fans are aware that you’re willing to play anywhere. After playing a gig, you should walk around the audience, engage people, ask them what they thought of the show, and let them know you are available to play live anywhere they want you too. Telling them that will definitely help you stand out from the pack.

5. Get guerrilla.

Set up wherever there is a crowd of people who might like your music and play for them. Club, high school, venue, and stadium parking lots. How many tailgate parties do you think would love some free entertainment? Play outside clubs where bands are playing that fit in with your style of music. Those people waiting in line are going to be bored, so playing a spontaneous gig right on the spot will definitely make an unforgettable impression.

6. Don’t forget the old school.

Hand out flyers and post cards at events that have a link to free stuff and a way to book you for a gig.

7. Network with key industry people at events and conferences.

Radio PD’s and DJ’s, club owners, band managers, label executives, and others all attend music conferences quite regularly. Say hello to these people, maybe buy them a drink or dinner, but don’t make a nuisance of yourself. Respect their space and don’t try shoving a CD in their face two minutes after meeting them. Introduce yourself casually, let them know who you are and where they can see you play. If it’s a club owner, tell them you would love to come in during the day and do a free audition for a free gig. Just make sure you can get a place to sell your merchandise if you nab a gig. Offer to play at places that may not always host live music, like restaurants, coffee shops, stores, and malls.

8. Get creative.

Write up a proposal and present it to the appropriate person at your local school board, offering to do a series of free shows to raise money for the school athletic or band program. Ask to perform during a school assembly when they can provide you with a built-in audience.

9. Find places where bands similar to yours play.

Use the wide variety of gig finding services available on the internet to figure out where local bands around you are getting gigs. E-mailing clubs with your RPK or EPK usually won’t get any results, because many venues get tons of similar e-mails and it will be really easy for yours to get lost in their inbox. Instead, after finding some good places, print out your press kit and mail it to them, or better yet, personally drop it off it in a nice professional package along with a CD to any decision maker at the club. Follow up with a call within a couple of days so you stay fresh in their minds. If the decision maker has an assistant, get to know that person and you will find that it will be much easier to get in the door. If you email them anything at all, make it your MySpace link along with a concise paragraph stating why they should book you. For some reason, most clubs still feel most comfortable checking you out on MySpace, so play by their rules.

10. Do a gig swap!

If you have a respectable following or are an up and coming band try gig swapping with a band in another city or town. Connect with a band or musician on MySpace, Facebook or one of the many gig swapping websites, like Indieonthemove.com or Splitgigs.com. Set up a show in your neck of the woods and let them open for you. Make sure to bring out all your local fans and then some. In turn they’ll set up a show in their city and have you open for them. This is a great way to reach a new audience and make valuable connections.

BONUS TIP! Everywhere you go, wherever you play, whomever you talk to about your band…collect as many e-mail addresses as you can. E-mail is still one of the best ways to communicate directly with your fan base, and develop long-lasting relationships.

This post was originally published by Chris Bracco on his music industry blog, Tight Mix. Chris is currently the digital marketing coordinator for Intrigue Music, LLC, a boutique management and publishing house in NYC. Feel free to subscribe to his blog’s RSS feed, or follow him on Twitter.

Sell More Than Just Your Music – 9 Quick Tips to Boost Gig Sales.

Your merch display doesn’t have to be attractive, but it has to be ATTRACTING! Whether you’ve pimped out a thrift-store suitcase, constructed a sleek and chic portable display, or simply spread CDs, T-shirts, and candles across one of the venue’s tables, you’ve got to make sure that something besides your undeniable musical genius catches the attention of the people in the audience.

9 tips to boost your merch and CD sales:
1. Make your merch table intriguing. Try to capture the attention of concert attendees before they hear a single note.

2. Avoid clutter, clearly displaying the products for sale and their prices.

3. Quickly convey your artist aesthetic. It is an extension of you and should “jive with your vibe.”

4. Make it accessible. The merch booth has got to be easy to get to, unobstructed, and clearly visible to many people at once so long lines don’t hinder sales opportunities. Also, don’t let it become a hangout for friends. A congregation of people chatting away (but not buying anything) will dissuade folks with actual interest and actual dollars.

5. Diversify. Offer a number of different items (CDs, t-shirts, stickers, mugs, etc.) and bundle them together for a reduced price to entice fans who might be on the fence.

6. Have small bags available. Don’t let the “how am I going to carry all this stuff?” objection lose you a sale.

7. Accept credit cards. Folks attending your show may not have a ton of cash on hand, or might not want to spend their last $10 on something other than a drink. No problem! With a credit card swiper, you can accept credit or debit cards right on the spot. And once someone has decided to use their card, your opportunity to upsell or bundle items into a bigger sale just got a lot more promising.

8. Get your email list up there front and center. The merch booth is your opportunity to attract new fans even if they don’t buy anything. Have your email list and website info as the centerpiece. This may be the only chance you have to turn a stranger into a lifelong fan. Don’t miss it!

9. Be visible at the booth following your performance. If you’ve created a moment on stage that made a fan say to themselves “I need to take some memory of this home with me,” what better way to ensure a lasting connection than to have a conversation with your audience after the show.

ARTIST ADVICE: Matthew Ebel
“LEDs. Seriously, LEDs. If you’re not keen on assembling something yourself from the raw parts, go to AutoZone and pick up the stuff people use to pimp out their cars. I found windshield washer replacements that acted like colored spotlights/uplights and could just be bolted down to the backboard of my display, strips of white LEDs to provide some soft fill lighting (doesn’t do much in a lit room, but how many clubs are well-lit?), and even some strobes that ended up just being annoying. All of this stuff is designed to run on 12 volt car batteries, so you could either get a plug-in adapter for the lights (also found at Autozone) or rig up a couple of 6v batteries to power the display from any table in the bar. Worst case scenario? Just buy a couple of good LED flashlights and find a way to diffuse the light so people can see your table in the dark.”

ARTIST ADVICE: Allison Weiss
“Make sure your display is eye catching, yet simple. I like to make sure my name is big and bold, and that I have enough stuff displayed to look interesting but not overwhelming. And if you get to choose where you put your stuff, pick a location with a lot of traffic, near the entrance, and make sure you’ve got someone manning the table at all times. In my opinion, when it comes to the merch table the smallest decisions can make the biggest difference. The most important thing is to be organized and visible.”

How To Tour As An Indie: On The Road

Touring as an indie band doesn’t mean getting on a luxury bus and having a tour manager handling gigs, logistics, accommodations, and meals. Here’s some good advice on how to tour culled from loads of blog posts and articles we’ve published on touring. These highlights should get you thinking about the ins and outs of how to get gigs, what an indie tour can be, and touring tips to take with you on the road.

House Concerts
House concerts are just what the name implies: concerts in someone’s home. Typically, house concerts are invitation-only gigs presented by a host, with all the proceeds going to the artist. As a general rule, house concerts are:

• intimate shows with 15-50 people sitting close to the performer

• $10-20 per guest
• performed by solo artists or small groups with little to no amplification
• likely to house and feed the artist for the night

Sprinkling house concerts in between club dates can be a great way to fill out your itinerary. It does take coordination to connect with a host and organize the event, and you are relying on your host’s ability to get enough people in the door to make it a success. But house concerts can be an excellent way to personally connect with fans, sell merch, and make decent money.

Your gig takes up 25% of your day…

… don’t waste the rest of it. Have a set of acoustic versions of your songs rehearsed and ready. For each town where you’ve booked an evening gig, contact local coffee houses and record shops and ask if you can do a daytime performance free of charge (with a tip jar). Also see if there are local radio stations where you can play, do an interview, and spin some tracks. Even if the listenership or turnout is minimal, in-studios and in-stores are excellent video and photo opportunities that make great content for the web!

Use social media
Your social media exploits will be more effective if they’re targeted.

• If you’ve played in the area before, reconnect with the folks you met the last go-round.

• Create a Facebook event for each show and invite attendees based on their location.

• Check out the venue websites where you’re going to play. Do they have Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter pages you can follow? Who are their most active fans? Reach out to them.

• Do you have an email list you can segment by state and city? If not, now is the time to start. Send a personalized email to the groups of people who live within driving distance of your show.

• Keep a tour diary. This can be as simple as a few sentences and pictures from your adventures you can post on your blog.

• Who are the other artists you’re playing shows with? Find them online. Begin a dialogue. See if you can interact with some of their online fans, because some of them will be at your show.

Document Everything
Take pictures, video, and audio – not just of your concert, but of the people you meet, the places you go, the landmarks you see, and your band cruising the city. Interview audience members and upload to YouTube. Post the videos on your blog, on Facebook, and Tweet like a bird.

Sleep
Getting sleep and staying hydrated are essential to enjoying a tour. You won’t last if you’re partying all the time. You’re out there to perform: everything else comes second to keeping yourself in performing shape, especially if you’re a vocalist.

If you’re traveling on a budget and not always staying in hotels, finding a comfortable place to lay your head can be a challenge. Pack inflatable AeroBeds, at least one pair of earplugs, and a sleep mask to help when you’re trying to catch sleep in odd places at odd hours.

Get resourceful with accommodations
Veteran touring bands often stay in houses of people they’ve met at gigs, and these often become a regular stop if the band tours the same route again. A key to success: be a good houseguest. Buy your hosts toilet paper, or offer to cook breakfast. You’re cultivating relationships that could be very useful for future trips.

Tony van Veen presents nine music promotion strategies at the New Music Seminar

As an independent music artist, what can you do to maximize your music promotion and overall revenue? At last year’s New Music Seminar, Disc Makers and CD Baby president Tony van Veen shared nine music promotion lessons he’s learned that every artist can easily implement to maximize gig sales, drive download purchases, and increase overall music sales.

Tony talks about:

• being where your fans are (you have to be out there and gig)
• building your list
• writing a great song
• finding your voice in your music promotion and emails
• retaining mindshare
• how often you should communicate with your fans (aka customers)

Stage Banter and Your Live Show

Your stage banter can contribute to a great live music performance — or a lousy one

Working on the music, the visual, and most of the transitions for a show usually takes up most of a rehearsal time. So when I first started working with artists on their live show, and we’d get to places where the front man needed to introduce the band, tell a story, do a song intro or verbal transition, I’d go along with them when they said, "I’ll talk here," or "I’ll put some stage banter here." I didn’t want to waste potentially good rehearsal time on something all of us do every day: talk.

Then I saw those artists onstage.

I found out pretty quickly talking doesn’t come naturally to everybody when they’re standing onstage. In fact, people often revert to clichés we’ve heard a millions times from other bad front people: "This song is about," "Here’s a little tune I wrote," "Are you having a good time?" "We’re gonna slow it down a little bit" — or my favorite cover band banter, "We’re gonna do a little Led Zeppelin." I want them to do a big Led Zeppelin — why is it always "little?"

Sometimes you go to a show and the artist rambles on and on about how he wrote the song, when he wrote the song, where he wrote the song, and what’s going on in the world today. It’s more of a political State of the Union address than an introduction! I want to stand up and scream, "Just play the freaking song already!"

On the other extreme, some artists say "My music speaks for itself." They barely say two words to the audience in a 60 minute show, and you don’t know any more about them when they leave the stage than when they first got on the stage.

Don’t misunderstand — there’s nothing wrong with lively stage banter, telling a story to set up a song, or playing songs back to back without saying a word. But when speaking from the stage, there are actually some concepts you can learn to keep an audience engaged.

First, you need to know you aren’t trying to accomplish the same thing every time you speak during a show. Let me give you a few examples of why you often need to talk:

1) Introductions. There are two places I recommend introducing the band. A short, quick intro after the first or second song to let them know who you are; and later, near the end of the show, after you’ve won the right to ask for applause, a more in-depth introduction of everyone.

2) Transitions. Just as there are musical transitions, there are verbal transitions. Most of them are short, and these transitions simply help keep the momentum going in the show.

3) Setting up a Song. I work with many artists to set up a song or two in their show with storytelling — what prompted the writing, what it means to them, and so on. A compelling story will help an audience connect emotionally to certain songs.

4) Audience Participation. Audiences like to be a part of your show. There is actually a very effective technique to this. I wish I could go into depth, but it is more complicated than one blog allows! So let me give you a tip on how not to do it. Don’t mumble something into the mic, then hold the mic out to the audience, and expect everyone in the room to join in. Your instructions need to be understood!

5) Pitching Merch. Again, this needs to be after you’ve won the right to ask your audience to buy something. Hopefully, because your show is so awesome, you’ve given them a reason why they should buy — now, you tell them how and where to get it. Be clear. Not salesy — but clear.

These are just a few of the most common places artists need to speak to their audience — certainly by no means all of them. But ask yourself as you prepare — is this a quick transition, am I setting up a song with a story, am I introducing the band here, trying to inspire people — what am I trying to do verbally?

It’s like a meal. Even if you’re a gifted cook, you still probably wouldn’t cook a 5-course meal every night. One night you cook a 5-course meal for friends and family because you have the time and are trying to accomplish an atmosphere conducive to relaxing, talking, entertaining (storytelling).

The next night you only have an hour between work and going out to see a play. You don’t cook a 5-course meal. You just get a fast food meal pickup (transition).

Maybe you are meeting people for the first time. You might meet them for coffee or a quick lunch just to introduce yourself (introduction).

You’re hosting a beach party, so you start a big bonfire and barbecue hot dogs and hamburgers, fill ice chests with cold drinks, and the focus is on the fun not the food (audience participation).

That’s the way it needs to be with talking to your audience. Know why you’re talking, when it’s appropriate to do it, and what you’re trying to accomplish. If you have the gift of gab it would be wrong to serve your audience a 5-course meal every song. But even if speaking makes you nervous, you can’t let everyone go hungry!

Either way, recognize what you are trying to accomplish, work it out, woodshed it, and bring it to rehearsal. Verbal communication between human beings is an important part of life… and your show. So whether you’re naturally comfortable speaking to a crowd or not, it’s important to develop those verbal skills onstage, which can go a long way towards keeping your audience captivated and engaged.

Tom Jackson is a world renowned live music producer, author of the book Tom Jackson’s Live Music Method and the All Roads Lead to the Stage DVD series, and master at transforming an artist’s live show into a magical experience for the audience. Tom has worked with hundreds of artists in every genre, including major artists like Taylor Swift, The Band Perry, Jars of Clay, and more. He also shares his expertise as a speaker at colleges, conferences, and events worldwide. To start learning the process of a great live show, check out OnstageSuccess.com.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Building local momentum through gigs and networking is a great music promotion strategy

You’ve spent countless hours writing, revising, and rehearsing, and now it’s time to take your material to the stage and wow some audiences. While a tour bus, road crew, and booking manager are helpful when it comes to worldwide — or at least nationwide — musical domination, gigging locally and building a live following, honing your chops, and refining your performances is the recommended first step. Here are a few music promotion strategies to help you get attention for your music on a local level.

Make your gig an event
If you’re trying to make a splash on a local level, New York recording artist Nisha Asnani recommends a focused approach to your music promotion — plan a single show and make it big.

"Early on, once I’d established some self-confidence in my work and writing and was ready to release my EP, I didn’t just want to put on a little release show," says Asnani. "If I was going to do it, I was going to do something that people would really be interested to see, something that they’d remember."

For her EP release party, which happened at The Bitter End in New York City in 2011, Asnani planned months in advance, refining arrangements, rehearsing, and gathering musical collaborators, who ended up including multiple string players and a horn section made up of friends and colleagues. "I wanted that awe factor, for people to be overwhelmed and enveloped," she says.

By focusing her efforts on a single, explosive event, Asnani created an experience that continues to pay her back in dividends, even two years later. "People still remember that show and talk to me about it," she says. "When they think about me and my music, it’s something that they can reference, and those memories have helped open doors for me. Most of my shows are pretty intimate," she adds, "but this was an example of how large I can go in a performance. I’m grateful that it really seemed to stick with people."

Take risks
If you heed the above advice, take note: The bigger the show you put on, the bigger the choices you have to make, Asnani says, and therefore, the bigger risk you run of making choices that not everybody in your audience is going to like. But that can be a good thing.

"When you make a big statement, you can alienate people, and that’s important to do," she describes. "Don’t be afraid to be very specific in what you do. Even if you fail, you have a better chance of learning more and being more powerful and effective the next time. If you just go middle of the road and wishy-washy, and try to make everyone happy, you’re going to end up with more questions than answers."

Making strong choices about your music and performance can also help you find your local audience more quickly; if it’s readily apparent who loves your music and who is angling for the door, you can use that knowledge to better focus your next gig towards members of your community who will truly dig what you’re presenting.

Establish a residency
The Bravery is just one example of a band that effectively grew its career by playing a residency, a.k.a. a series of regular shows at the same venue.

"One good thing about a residency is that, even though people might have busy schedules, it gives everyone who wants to see you multiple opportunities to do so," says Asnani.

Playing a residency can also give local friends and fans a chance to see you grow and change show to show. "I have a friend who came to a few of my shows and she told me how interesting and exciting it was," says Asnani. "She felt like she was on the journey with me, getting a glimpse into the process."

One key element of playing a successful residency is avoiding, as Asnani puts it, "saturating your draw" — in other words, playing too often in the same area so, eventually, nobody shows up. If the venue you’re playing at is a restaurant, bar, or other locale with a regular built-in crowd, this can be less of a concern. But if you’re the sole magnet drawing people in, consider pushing for a residency schedule that has you playing closer to monthly or bi-monthly, rather than weekly — whatever timetable will allow you to do your music promotion thoroughly and get a reasonable crowd through the door.

There’s no hard formula for setting up a residency, but building up relationships of mutual respect with local venue owners and bookers is always a good step. It’s also important to make sure that you have enough material, or can develop new material quickly enough, to keep each show fresh, as it’s a rare fan who will come back to see you play the same eight songs in the same order, show after show and week after week. If you’ve found a venue that feels like it could be a good musical home away from home for a little while, and the folks in charge seem friendly enough to be open to such a thing, bring up the subject and see where the discussion goes.

While playing a residency can help you build a reputation and solidify a following, Asnani is quick to point out that a focus on honing your craft is key to the success of any series of shows. "It’s about getting in and doing the work," she says. "You get to try new things, see what works and what doesn’t, and come back and do it better the next time."

Host something
Whether it’s a jam session or open mic night, late-night community radio show or music appreciation meet up, hosting something musical on a local level can help you build relationships within your community, hone your chops as a performer, and serve as great music promotion by getting the word out about you and your music.

"I created an open mic to serve the artistic community that I was connected to and to give everyone an opportunity to network," says Asnani. "It works great, because I get to help other people like me and see what they’re doing artistically. It’s also great that I often get to perform myself and show my work to a new crop of people each week."

Asnani emphasizes that the community aspect of serving as a host is key, especially for musical artists with big ambitions. "The label structure isn’t what it used to be, and I believe that artists who band together, come up together, and share resources are all stronger for it," she says. "If you share ideas and do your best to provide both feedback and connections to people in your community, it can make a big difference when it comes to getting known and getting seen."

Diversify
Even if your true musical passion is your own personal blend of trip-hop and bluegrass, don’t hesitate to get your feet wet with other local artists, bands, and projects. Playing, writing, producing, or recording with other like-minded folks can help your name get out within your area ’ and next time you have a local show of your own to publicize, you have that many more people in the music world to share the news with.

Furthermore, don’t forget that more hours logged making music with different collaborators means more unexpected eyes and ears reached. You never know who’s watching or listening, and that killer guitar line you’re laying down to back up your friend’s singer/songwriter set may just be the key to opening up your own next exciting opportunity.

Reach out to local media
Just last month, I wrote about if or when to start working with a music publicist — but when you’re trying to get noticed on a local level, there’s quite bit of effective media outreach that you can do on your own.

Small newspapers, college radio stations, community blogs, and area-based tourism magazines can be good media outlets to target. If you happen to be a member of an ethnic or religious group that has community-specific publications in your area, check out those as well.

Generally speaking, the smaller the media outlet, the easier it will be to get access to an editor, writer, or producer in order to introduce yourself and make your pitch. As with any such interaction, keep your story short, focused, confident, and respectful. If you’re doing something that’s interesting and different, any such publication could well be interested in sharing the latest about your new show or album release with your neighbors.

Keep pushing
There’s no guaranteed timeline when it comes to building a name for yourself and your music on a local level, so persistence and patience are key. "I always think it’s bullshit to wait around for other people to give you opportunities," says Asnani with a laugh. "If you want opportunities that you’re not getting, it’s your responsibility to create them for yourself."

Asnani points out that locations like New York City and Los Angeles, by their nature, can offer

more opportunities than others. But she also notes that, regardless of whether you’re in a small town or urban metropolis, the same principles apply.

"I always produced my own shows, sought out my own venues, found my own musicians, and so on," she says. "It’s important to create your own events and opportunities and cultivate contacts wherever you are, to be as present and positive as possible as part of the musical community in which you want to live and work."

Slot machine image via ShutterStock.com.

Michael Gallant is a musician, composer, and journalist living in New York City. Music from his debut trio album Completely was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition and received a five-star review from Critical Jazz, which stated: "Fresh, invigorating, progressive — there are simply not enough positive adjectives to list here." Learn more, download through iTunes, or

Writing Better Lyrics

Writing fresh, original lyrics is a challenge for every songwriter. You must say something very specific to be universal, but sometimes all the words coming out just sound like things you’ve heard before. And even more, an artist needs a signature song to cut through and stand out above the noise. What’s a signature song? A song that “speaks” your message in a way and who you are as an artist in a way that makes you stand out and not fit in. It is a statement song.

Here are some tips to move past writer’s block, find your deeper message and write your signature.

Your Signature Song: What song do people remember and ask you about? You probably have one (or more!) songs that are your go-to’s. That you know people love. That you use as openers or closers to really clinch the performance. There’s something transcendent, specific, and catchy all at once about them. They are rare and beautiful. These are the songs you want. These are your signature songs. You want to use your signature song(s) as a benchmark for the rest of your writing. It operates on a different vibration than cliche’s that you write will. Hold yourself to that standard. How do you write them? You dig deep, you collaborate, you look for epiphanies in your life and put them under a magnifying glass, you get feedback and work with an artist developer like me who can draw your signature out of you (sign up for an hour with me here). Sometimes it’s hard to see what your signature is when you are your product.

Hold Your Editor Back: Part of what holds songwriters back is going to the editor too quickly. You want to let the creativity and words flow without judgment when you are first writing. You can alwaysgo back and edit later. Don’t assume you know what the song is about beforehand. You may come up with a verse that moves it in a different direction. Whatever is coming out in the moment, let it happen. Even if you think, “Ugh, this is shaping up to be a cliche’d mess!” Keep writing. Write through it.

Show Up: Meet the Muse. Not every song comes out fully formed and glowing like a gift from the Universe – though we wish it would! The more frequently you write, the more you allow the muse to visit you and take over. You may have had to get that silly song out to get to what you were really trying to say. If you show up consistently, (daily!) you will begin to become an artisan and a craftsperson. Not just someone who works when they are inspired. Real artists know that inspiration meets you at the work table.

Don’t Be Afraid to Stand Out Instead of Fit In: It’s easy to miss this one. We all want to be well liked, appreciated, adored and some of us will go to great lengths to get it. But for a music artist, it can be death. Bob Dylan didn’t write his music to fit in. He wrote it because it needed to be said. He didn’t aim to please – he aimed to tell it like it is. And watch out for falling into the trap of the local scene where fitting in may be initially rewarding but could deter you from finding who you really are.

Join a Group or Meet with a Songwriter Friend that You Trust & Respect: Developing a long-term relationship with a songwriter friend or a small songwriting group that you trust and respect is crucial. As time passes they will get to know your voice and be able to give you honest feedback about when you’ve hit on something real and important and when you were just flexing your writing muscles. Even with the perspective of your signature songs it can be hard to trust yourself. It’s common to doubt your own writing when you’re moving forward and your writing methods are changing or you are moving in a new direction. A trusted, supportive outside perspective will help you.

Remember: your lyrics are how you communicate something to the world! Be ruthless with them, compassionate to yourself, and say something real. People want to know the true you. Give yourself the freedom to screw up & write badly so you can get to the good stuff. It’s in there. Trust me.

[source] http://www.caricole.com/writing-better-lyrics/#.UZQjdKKG39o