A&R News

REPOST

As you probably know, it hasn’t exactly been a quiet summer in the A&R world. There were several A&R exits over the summer including Ian Cripps who exited Warner Bros. and Larry Jenkins who exited CBS after the closure of the label. Longtime Hollywood Records East Coast A&R Jason Jordan also exited the label after his many years with them. Some A&R moves of note include Lindsey Cook of RCA who moves to the New York office from Los Angeles and Mollie More who joins Capitol’s A&R team from Atlantic. Speaking of Atlantic, our congratulations go out to Mike Caren (former Ex. VP for the label) who has been promoted to President of A&R for the entire Warner Music Group and John Janick who becomes President at Interscope. There were also quite a few labels that moved to new locations including Vagrant, Doghouse, Eagle Rock, Lizard King, American Recordings, Custard and New West among others. As we mentioned earlier, the CBS Television Network closed their label down recently. And just yesterday we were hearing that Dangerbird Co-Founder Jeff Castelaz is set to take over at Elextra now that Mike Caren and John Janick have moved on.

By the time you read this, the European Commission may likely have voted to approve the buyout of EMI by Universal. The formal announcement does not come until September 24th, but it is important to note the most significant concession made to gain approval which is the sale of Parlophone, home to Coldplay, David Guetta, Gorillaz, Tinie Tempah and Conor Maynard among others. It will be interesting to see who will get the assets Universal Music Group (UMG) has to sell, primarily Parlophone. Both Sony and Warner Music Group would benefit, but do not count out BMG which has expressed a tremendous interest in acquiring those assets. So, as we have often said over the years, stay tuned!

Can You Afford Physical Distribution?

By Chris Standring - A&R Online 

"We Need Distribution"
I get many e-mails from artists and groups asking me about distribution. They say "We have a band and we're playing locally and getting good crowds and we sell our CD at gigs. We started our own label and need to get distribution so we can get our CDs in the stores. How can we do that?"

The odds are that you cannot afford distribution.  Let me explain why...

Most inexperienced folks believe that a distributor is the pipeline to the people. In theory it is, but in practice it is not. A distribution company is only as good as the record companies promotional power. Yes it is important to get your CD in the store, but it is much more important to get your CD OUT of that store. It's as much the record companies job to do that as it is the retailers. A distributor can only try its hardest to convince a retail store to take your CD. To secure shelf space a record company needs to present all its marketing commitments (and honor them) so retail stays confident that it can shift units. 

Let's face it, record stores are saturated with product. Why on earth would a store take a CD if it isn't sure it will get sold. What that retailer needs to see if it is to readily accept your product is:

• Radio Play - If a single is being worked at radio (through an independent radio promoter) and getting spins, this might be enough to convince a store in that neighborhood to take your record. The amount of demand for the record will determine the amount of units the store takes.
   
• Retail Price And Positioning  - Visibility in a record store is everything! If you were to buy an "end cap" (those displays at the end of an aisle), or a month on a listening station, or rack display, this is enough to attract the attention of a store. However, it has become increasingly competitive even when you pay for this!
   
• Touring -  Playing live shows can help create a demand for a CD and this of course is key.

All labels have what they call a "one sheet" - a hand out sheet with bullet points outlining their marketing strategies and promotional commitments. This is the first step, but then those commitments have to be met. These commitments are extremely expensive.

If a label refuses to spend promotional money on their act a number of things can result;

• The CDs remain in the store buried amongst the thousands of others waiting to be found.
   
• The CDs after a matter of weeks, get returned to the record label.
   
• The record store takes less units from the same artist'snext CD, often refusing to stock it altogether.

The last point is interesting. A brand new artist can generate much more excitement in the retail marketplace than an artist with a failed record. The label with the new artist, providing they stump up their promotional dollars and have a good several weeks at radio before they go to retail, can distribute a good amount of units in the marketplace. The artist with a previous record that "bombed" however, will need to do a good deal more convincing in order to get the stores to take more product.

So my big question is; "Can you afford distribution?". To get a record in every store via a reputable distributor immediately puts you in competition with major labels who have gobs of promotional money they can drop if they need to.

Localize - DIY - Build Relationships
My advice for independent artists is to localise. By all means try to get your CD in retail stores, but do it yourself. Strike up a relationship with the store buyer and offer your CDs on consignment. Don't give them any risk. When you do gigs in that neighborhood make a point of telling your audience that they can buy your CD in such and such store (even if you sell CDs at your gigs!)

Do what you can to get some radio play in that area too. This, along with your live shows, might create a certain amount of demand to shift enough units for each retail store to take you seriously and want to continue to support you. From time to time record stores will do "in store appearances" with independent artists and this will allow you to build a stronger relationship with a store, and sell a few units. In a perfect world that store may even add your disc to a listening station for a month to help generate some business. I have seen this happen many, many times. They understand that it costs labels thousands of dollars to do this and that indies are operating on a shoestring. They very often want to help if they believe in a band.

Having said this, retail pretty much wants to deal only with distributors and labels. However, they will support a new artist if they like them. Walk into your local store and ask to speak to the buyer. Give him your CD, be nice and see what happens.

Remember, don't just think about getting your CD IN the store, think about how you might get it OUT!. 

Draw Attention, but Don't DEMAND Attention

by Christopher Knab - Fourfront Media & Music

Waiting for someone to discover you is the purgatory of the unimaginative soul. 

I’m always on the alert for the “discover-me musician”. Here are some clues to these lost individuals operate:

• They mail cheap-o CDR's with no contact information. (Tip: stop with the shopping-for-a-deal idea. And when a demo recording is requested, have a professional looking CD ready to send.)
   
• After sending their music to an industry professional, they’re never heard from again. The idea of making a follow-up call never enters their minds.
   
• They scribble an illegible note about having a bunch of “great songs” and want us to “get them played”, or “sign us now!”
   
• They’ve been recording songs for several years but never performed for a live audience.
   
• They send out mass e-mailings to industry people filled with cliche descriptions of their music (“monster songs that will make you rich if you just try to sell my songs for me.”)

These unfortunate discover-me addicts have no clue.

How did this come to pass? Why are so many musicians and bands waiting in a self-imposed twilight zone? I trace it back to Tin Pan Alley. Yup, since the late 1890s, the income from published songs has been controlled by a coterie of powerful songwriters, publishers, and later, record company executives. These influential people created a system where aspiring songwriters and would-be stars depended on their services and connections.

Whether it was access to the vaudeville stages, the budding recording industry, or the wonder of radio broadcasting—if you wanted to “make it,” you had to find a way to be discovered by those guys. Only they could open the gates to these opportunities. Hence the term "gatekeepers.” “Come on kid. I can make you a star!” was their pitch, and they could do just that.

But today we live in a new music environment, and forty-plus years past the birth of the indie revolution, the DIY (Do It Yourself) movement of the early 1970s. Things are different now, but I still encounter hundreds of wannabes at music conferences like the CMJ Marathon, SXSW, SXSE, etc.

There they are, an army of discover-me drones passing out those infamous demos with no contact information, and playing the stupid lottery game of “Discover me, I’m really good.” Then they go home, only to resurface at some other expensive conference to try once again to make that one really important contact.

Let’s put an end to this foolishness, whad’ya say?

Stop dreaming, musicians! Learn the business as you build your own career. The gatekeepers will come, maybe, after you have something substantial to show them; a fan following on your website or social networking sites, a number of CDs sold, some modicum of press recognition. Then you can decide if you actually want the almighty record deal. Or is 'a deal' actually a series of gigantic financial hurdles that you have to climb over in order to earn some lousy $1 to $1.50 per unit sold, after you recouped all the advances?

Now, let me say this. You do need connections. You do need people to help you with your career. (why do you think Linked-In, and Facebook etc. are so popular?)

The entertainment industry is built on relationships.The best relationships are nurtured over the years and have been built on mutual trust and respect for the different gifts we have as musicians and music business professionals.

As a non-musician, I can honestly speak for myself and other non-musician gatekeepers on this. Music business professionals have found their place by listening to and being inspired by the great music of the past and present. We’ve developed “ears,” a kind of inner radar for what music is “good” by our marketplace definition. We’re paid for being able to find the right music for the various companies we represent.

Don’t bother us with lame pleas for attention or unprofessional work habits. Prove to us that your music is cool, don’t tell us that it’s cool. 

The way you do that is to put yourself in places where we can hear your music, read about it, and pick up the buzz from the excitement of your growing fan base. In this competitive age, you need to do more than just write some songs and send out demos.

You’re not the only one who has a dream of being successful, of making money with your music career. Music professionals also want a long career doing what we love to do. Should our paths meet, and should the chemistry work between us, our success could include working to help you succeed.
Industry representatives like to discover new talent, but they like to discover it on their own terms.

Build relationships based on a working knowledge of the business you’re entering, and cultivate a respect for the business side of things.

Draw our attention, but do not demand our attention. 

The best relationships are those that honor the gifts and talents of the creative person and the business professional. When that type of relationship is sought after and established, only then we can say that someone discovered a new act and made someone a star.

"Grunt Work" is What Building Your Music Career is All About

by Christopher Knab - Fourfront Media & Music - REPOST FROM March, 2010

Replace Your Misconceptions
As a consultant and educator, it’s my job to replace your misconceptions about the music business with a dose of business savvy.

It’s not surprising that so many artists don’t have a clue about how much grunt work is required to build the foundation of their career. We consumers see only the surface of the entertainment industry — we see the results of the grunt work the record labels have successfully orchestrated when they have a hit recording.

But let’s get down to it. 

If you thought writing and rehearsing your songs was tough, that re-cording them was more work than you expected, that getting the cover art for your CD was difficult, that building a great website was easy, that constantly updating your music blog, and social networking sites was fun and games, then hold on to your hard drive...

It’s no coincidence that promoting and selling a record is called “working” the record.

"Working" the Record...
For starters, I’m assuming that you realize it takes money to market your record! Rule of thumb: at least double or triple what you spent on recording your CD, depending on your re-cording budget. This is recommended for a serious local to regional marketing campaign.

Now, what do you have to do to promote your newly released CD? Unless you want it to re-main stacked in your apartment or garage, you have to make industry people and the public aware of your music. You send out free promotional CDs to the music directors at college, and Internet radio stations, the writers and editors in the press, the booking people at clubs, and the buyers at distributors and stores. You have to create and maintain your mailing list data and regularly update your website. You may need mailers, stamps, and certainly have a relatively new computer with software that is up-to-date. Then you have to do follow-up phone calls to all those people. You need to schmooz — a lot — on the phone, online, out and about in your local music scene. So, get ready for some serious phone bills. 

This work is frustrating and time consuming. The reward is the satisfaction of actually hearing your songs on the radio, reading your reviews online or in the press, landing that first important head-liner gig, or walking into a store and seeing your CD in the racks. Think of the grunt work this way. Every record you have in your personal collection had someone doing all those tasks behind the scenes, or you wouldn’t have been aware of that music, let alone had the opportunity to purchase it.
"I Don't Have Time For All That!"
I can already hear some moans and groans. You’re thinking, “I don’t have time to do all that work,” or “I’m a musician. I just want to make my music.” Well, tough. No one is ever going to care more about your music than you. You must take charge of your own dreams. No one is going to force you to do what it takes to work a record seriously, and no one is going to make you a star, no matter what stories you may have heard. All a record industry person can do is work with a committed artist. The message is this: unless somebody does the grunt work, your record will remain in the closet, unheard by an audience that might enjoy it. In the beginning, that someone is going to be you.

At a music business conference workshop for developing artists, Tom Silverman, the CEO of Tommy Boy Records once said, “Why did you make your stupid record anyway?!” His point was to wake up the crowd to the realities of this business.

No One is Waiting for Your Music!
You have to be responsible for building your career in the beginning. The public will judge whether or not your music is great, not you, if and when they get a chance to hear it. Industry gatekeepers and the public have a chance to hear your music only if you resolve this grunt work issue.

You have another option. Keep your music as a hobby. Music as a hobby can be very enjoyable. We live in a time when the supply of good music greatly outweighs any demand for it.

So, if the grunt work I’ve outlined is something you want nothing to do with, consider keeping your music as a hobby, there’s nothing wrong with that. It may be the best decision you ever made. As your expectations settle down, your music will demand much less of your time and effort. If you make that decision, be clear about it. Be sure you don’t harbor secret hopes of being discovered and attaining stardom and commercial success. You can’t put in a small amount of effort and expect to get the rewards of a serious, hard-working musical career.

Here’s another aspect of grunt work. When you resolve who will do it, and how it will be done, a funny thing begins to happen. You experience what a real record label does. You learn what it’s like to compete for exposure. And should you arrive at the negotiating table for that almighty label deal you once knew nothing about, you’ll be far more prepared. You’ll be on your way to being a respected member of the team, a savvy player who cannot easily be taken advantage of.

I recommend this path. If you have the passion to tackle all the work that needs to be done, you’ll find yourself with a new sense of pride when you see what you’ve achieved with your efforts. You can do it.

16 Timeless Music Business Self-Promotion Tips

The following tips are essential, life-long suggestions, for any and all musicians to remember as they establish and/or maintain their music careers.

1. Stop sending unsolicited demo recordings to record labels, and instead concentrate on building your own music name and reputation by creating longterm relationships with your growing fanbase. They are your ticket to success.

2. Take the time to learn what the professionals in the music business do for a living. What are their job titles, who do they report to, and what do they do everyday when they go to work? The contacts you make in the music industry can make or break your career because your potential success is directly linked to any possible growing success of the industry people who are climbing their own ladders to success. The music business is built on the "buddy system." Everyone is attached to everyone else in this industry. As you go, so go your business contacts.

3. Before contacting any music business professional have 1(one) prepared question for them that will not make you look or sound like an ignorant person. i.e. Do not ask them how to become a atar, or how to get a recording contract. No one has the time to answer such sweeping and naive questions.

4. Create two contact lists: One for professional people you actually have as a business contact. Another contact list made up of all your fans. Keep both lists updated and using common sense, reach out to both contract groups only when you have something very important to ask of them and/or to share with them.

5. Prepare a short 30 second description of your music. Memorize it and use it every time you are asked "What kind of music do you make?" Don't go on and on describing your music... your statement should clearly describe your genre or style of music quickly and in compelling language that will perk up the person's ears and find yourself with an interested and potentially valuable new contact ready to support you.

6. If you have trouble defining your music style, try this exercise... define the word "originality" and note that within that word is another word... "origin." Perhaps this will help you focus on what makes your music unique. Never say your music is "unique," explain HOW it is unique. This exercise will help you write your 30 second statement.

7. Remember this always: People in the music industry who's job it is to find and support new acts don't know what they are looking for...BUT...they will recognize it when they hear it.

8. Find a concise "Image" and follow it everywhere. This is important because the first impression to someone unfamiliar with your sound is a VISUAL experience most of the time. i.e. Your Logo design used to spell your name, the title of your CD, or the design of your website, merchandise etc. is crucial to attracting industry and music fans. Image IS everything in show business, and in case you didn't realize it, music is part of good 'ol show business. Research your favorite acts and study their image.

9. People only respond to music they can personally relate to. What is it in your songs and compostions that has inspired your current fanbase and will grow to attract more fans and industry support? Think hard on this point. It is a true key to any possible success. Music contains emotions, so what emotions do your songs deliver to a listener?

10. Does your music sound too much like another artist or band's music? This is the biggest complaint from music business professionals... too much music today sounds like retreads of already successful artists. And, your fans are sensitive to this issue too. There is way too much :redundant-sounding" music out there today.

11. When you perform live does your stage pressence reflect the image conveyed in your songs? Are you well prepared, well rehearsed, and do the songs in your live set flow into each other in an exciting and well balanced way?

12. It can never be said enough. Great songs, Great compositions are the basis of all potential success, but "grunt work," everyday down-in-the-trecnches boring work, like updating your blog and website, keeping your websie and social networking pages updated and staying in touch with your fans regularly are tough jobs. Only you can tackle these jobs and other jobs like putting up flyers for shows (on and offline), updating your press materials, looking for gigs, rehearsing... all these tasks require your commitment to carry them out without complaining. Remember, only YOU can care the most...it's YOUR music, YOUR career that we are dealing with here.

13. There is no such thing as an "overnight sensation." Behind every act referred to in this way are countless hours of hard work and dedication that got that person or act to be able to take advantage of the breaks they got, and remember too that the breaks you are looking for should be more than "a record deal" or a "production deal." Look out for the ever increasing demand for uses of your songs online, in films, TV shows and ads... the list goes on. But you have to work consistently for these breaks to happen.

14. Home recording is as common today as home cooking use to be, but don't get trapped in the rut of staying at home and working on your computer or home recording setup. GET OUT regularly and show up at clubs and other concert venues on a regular basis. There is that old saying "They only come out at night"... well that's very true when it comes to music business personnel as well as music fans. So, get out there and socialize IN -PERSON wherever you might live.

15. As your fanbase grows create more and more merchandise to sell online and at your live shows. Be sure your LOGO is on every piece of merchandise you sell. (back to that statement-"Image is everything.")

16. This last tip may be the most important of all. Conduct your business from your heart. Yes, the music industry rarely operates from that place, but don't worry about the industry, concern yourself with your SELF... be righteous. Be upstanding. Be a professional in everything you do. If you do that, believe me you will stand out from from the crowd.

by Christopher Knab Fourfront Media & Music

Guerrilla Music Marketing Suggestions

Make Fans a Birthday Card! 
Remember your fan's birthdays by creating a musical birthday card you create yourself. Email them the card that is imbedded with an mp3 file of a birthday song you wrote.

Use old school psychology, (if you can afford it) send a real birthday card to each fan that has a simple chip attached to it with a sound file that begins to play when you open the card. (the technology is now available, such cards are now in many retail stores).

You will obviously have to have your database setup to include a place for your fans to give you their birth dates, but after that, at the beginning of every month simply sort out who has a birthday coming up and mail them off. Be sure to do this at least a week before the beginning of each month.

Think of how appreciative your fans will be for having been thought of, and as your career and goes on and gets more established, your past musical birthday cards will become valuable collector items.

A Sticky Way To Be Remembered 
Print up promotional "sticky notes" using the Post-It note method for upcoming gigs and send or pass them out to music fans attending live shows. Have your latest shows printed up on them, so fans can use them as reminders to attend your shows and can put them up on their home bulletin boards or refrigerators. You can also use this idea for reminders to buy your latest CD or merchandise you have for sale at your website or live shows.

Be The Musical Entertainment
For Your Favorite Local Record Store
Work with a local record store that carries your genre of music and ask them about participating in a special "after hours" party and special sale where you get to be the band or artist to supply the music for the event. Have them put your CD on sale at a special price during the party only. Take time to sign autographs, and get the customers to sign up on your mailing/database list. The store can add whatever added incentives they want to make the event a special sale and you get to go along for the ride.

Talking House ®
Brings Your Music To Unique Places 
A company called Talking House ® has invented a unique 'broadcasting' tool It was first used by real estate people to transmit descriptions of a house that is for sale. It works like this; a small radio transmitter sits inside a location (such as a local business in your area). Prospects just tune in on their ordinary car radio, while parked out front, and hear a customized broadcast, in this case…your music…while they are nearby.

Talking House ® can be used by restaurants, bars, taverns nightclubs, music and record stores, independent fast food restaurants...whatever. You name it, Talking House ® can broadcast it.

For more infgormation, call  800-444-8255, fax 920-923-6222 or visit the Web site at http://www.TalkingHouse.com.

Free Domain Name Registration Site
There is an advertiser supported web site offering free registration of domain names. You can inquire about being an advertiser yourself and put up an ad for your CD this way. The web address iswww.register.com. Pass the word around to fellow bands/artists and fans that need to register their domain names and they will see an ad for your music when they visit the site.

Use Your Business Card
To Promote Your Favorite Lyrics 
On the front cover of a folded card, place a catchy lyric from one of your songs. Inside, or some place other than where your traditional contact information is printed, briefly list information about your CD and other merchandise you have for sale, and where people can buy your releases. (internet, live shows, mail order)

On the back get creative and list other interesting facts about yourself or your music than fans and industry people might appreciate knowing about.

IMEDIAFAX is right on target 
Here is a unique way to fax your promotional messages and press releases to the media. Users create a proprietary media list from a selection of magazines, newspapers, syndicates, and broadcast stations. The service, called IMEDIAFAX -- Internet to Media Fax on-line custom news distribution service, can be found atwww.imediafax.com.

Here's how it works: You make your selection by clicking your mouse on the industry and classification, key editors, states, market area, or circulation. Then enter your news release and click to send. IMEDIAFAX news releases can contain graphics, letterheads, logos or pictures. The cost is 25 cents per faxed page….A bonus is that there are no international phone or fax charges.

Become a Music Marketing Matchmaker 
Maintain a supply of local music related businesses business cards and distribute them to musicians and music lovers you know. Using return address labels, create a sticker that says " referred by (your name or band name here)"

Placed on the back of other people's business cards, the stickers reminds the person who you are, and you get great word of mouth name recognition over time, and you've helped a local music related business get some customers, as well as helped your music fans learn about where to get the best local help for the their music needs.

The customer is reminded of a cool business, and your name is the first one the prospect hears. ("So and so recommended that I talk to you")

Turn Your Fans Onto Other Cool Music
On your website, (you DO have your own website don't you?) create a section where you and your fellow musicians regularly recommend other local bands and great music that you think your fans would enjoy.

The benefit of this is that you are not seen as strictly a selfish musician obsessed with promoting your own music. Your fans will benefit and thank you over time for all the cool music you have turned them onto.

On a professional level, as you recommend other bands and acts, they will get the word from others that you have recommended their music. Can't hurt when it comes to finding other artists to perform live with at various gigs.

Fax Reminders For Your Live Shows and Events
When you create your sign-up sheets for mailing lists be sure to include a place for people to write in their fax machines numbers. Everyone is pretty hip to email these days but the good 'ol fax machine is now in 70% of homes across the country.

A few days before each gig, after you have emailed your fans about an upcoming show, send some faxes out to your fans, it is a much more direct way to remind someone of a gig coming up.

Flower and Candy Power 
When you get an important gig, or get somesubstantial radio airplay, think about saying thank you the old fashioned way….with flowers. I can only remember a handful of times over the decades of being in the music business when I was thanked with flowers or candy for having done a favor to help a musician.

Believe me, sometimes the corniest ideas are the best ideas. People like getting thanked in this business, and no one would be upset getting a bouquet of flowers or a box of delicious candies….you will be remembered for your kindness and your consideration!
Credibility for Small Record Labels
Almost every new and small record label struggles to gain credibility and recognition. So, use a 'Suite' address, and not a P.O. Box, or an apartment number when you create your business cards, and letterhead stationary, as well as your envelopes.

Also, list your title as Promotion Manager, Sales Director, Publicist or something of a similar level, rather than more imposing titles like President, Chairman or CEO titles.

Put Your Fans To Work: Street Teams
Street Teams are the way to go when you don't have a lot of money or time to promote your music. They can be recruited to write articles and reviews about your releases and live shows, and they can be used effectively to get the word out on the street. With your supervision, let them write up press releases, design posters, and get them put up around your city of town. Thank them with free CDs, merchandise, and tickets to your upcoming shows. They will be happy to help you, and feel a real sense of pride in having helped spread the word about your muscic.

Be sure to make all submissions your property if used and gain all appropriate publishing rights.

Fishing for Leads 
In addition to providing a simple sign-up sheet for your mailing list that you can have available at all your live shows, consider buying a fishbowl. You know, those road bowls you have seen on the counter of restaurants, where people can drop in their business cards. Do the same at your live shows….Write up a nice sign that mentions you will do a drawing each night for a winner to get your latest CD, if they would drop their business card into the bowl for you.Hotel and Motel Promotions
Remembering your image, and who your fan is, research hotels and motels in the areas that you are going to be touring and arrange with the appropriate lodgings to have free copies of your CD put on the pillow of the guests who are staying there. This is especially important to do when you are going to any of the many music industry conferences and seminars that are held around the country.
This is a great idea because it costs the hotels and motels nothing, and depending on your budget, you have just exposed your music to potentially hundreds of music lovers.

Create a Links Page On Your Website 
Create a part of your website that has links on it for other interesting music related websites. Plug it in your fan newsletter and in your promotional materials. Ask your fans to recommend their favorite music websites, and create an exchange of ideas with your fans. Perhaps give a free CD to the best link suggestion of the month.

Give Your CDs Away At Your Live Shows…..But…
I am a big fan of selling CDs at live shows, but for those of you just starting out, and doing your first gigs, perhaps the way to go is to announce from the stage that you are giving away free CDs to the first 25 people that sign-up on your mailing list. That way you get the fan's name and contact information, and they get some free music of yours to listen to, and hopefully tell their friends about.

Partner With Your Local Record Store
Contact a favorite local independent record store, and ask them to donate a few gift certificates. Tell them that in exchange, at concerts you will promote their store as a supporter of local music and even pass out circulars for the store at your live shows. On the back of the gift certificate include your own offer for a buck or two off your CD. This works, I know…I use to own a independent record store and I loved doing this type of local promotion with favorite acts because it got new customers into my store, and it got the band another fan. We were both winners.

School Promotions
Contact local high schools and colleges and donate copies of your CD to the school libraries. If your schools have music programs, donate copies to them as well to be given away to the students.
(Musicians worry too much about making money from every promotional opportunity they think of. My idea is that just like those supermarkets that give-a-way free samples of crackers and cheese and sandwiches, you have to give away your music at first so people can hear what you sound like. After you create a fanbase, then you've got 'em hooked and they will be more willing to buy future releases, merchandise, and tickets to your shows.)

Promote Your Music
Around Special Holidays and Events
Get a copy of Chase's Calendar of Events (buy the book by email:Bookserve@aol.com) to discover all sorts of holidays and "awareness weeks" that apply to almost any business. The idea is to scan the list and see how many of these events you might be able to use for a charitable gig, a networking opportunity, or sources for paid performances and promotional parties.

A New Spin On College
and Non Commercial Radio Promotions
On the left hand side of the dial from 88.1 FM to 91.9 FM you will find a lot of college radio stations, and other non-commercial broadcasters. Check them out. Most of them have dozens of specialty music shows and certainly a few of those will be playing your style and genre of music. Instead of just begging them for airplay, approach a specialty show host and tell him or her that you want to promote their show on your website and other promotional materials. Tell them how much you enjoy their show, and give them a copy of your music, but without any pressure to play it…let that happen organically. As they get more listeners and feedback on how people heard about their show, you get some of the credit, and have begun a real relationship with the show and the station.

Also, don't be afraid to ask if they are a listener supported station. When I was the station manager of a college radio station in Seattle, during our pledge drives we had many artists and bands donating a percentage of their live show performance fees to the station. Why? Because smart musicians realize the value of supporting their local non-commercial stations. 
-----Christopher Knab is an independent music business consultant based in Seattle, Washington. He is available for private consultations on promoting and marketing independent music, and can be reached by email at: chris@chrisknab.net

The Most Innovative Music Marketing Today is Found in Hip Hop

George Howard
ReposT

The Game intentionally leaks his album

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, the innovation that is occurring in music marketing is occurring in hip hop. Proving this point, Allhiphop.com is reporting on how The Game has recently intentionally leaked the clean version of his forthcoming album. Further, The Game says that this isn’t some new idea. He did the same thing for his last album, The Documentary. And while the labels (presumably The Game’s own label, Interscope, which is owned by Universal) are constantly bemoaning the negative affect leaked albums (etc.) have on sales, it didn’t seem to have hurt The Game the last time around – The Documentary has sold over 5 million copies. I would guess this sales figure is why Universal is not attempting to stop The Game from doing this a second time. Universal is, of course, the label that threatened to sue YouTube out of business just prior to investing in YouTube only hours before the Google acquisition. Man, it’s a fascinating time to be in the music business!