Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

Hey everyone,

I am an aspiring professional musician from NY. I want to try to begin to promote my music. In your opinion, how much is a good amount to spend in order to effectively get my songs out to the public? What steps should I take?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

John

Very difficult to do it all yourself. Use Tunecore or similar services that will electronically distribute your music, but then it will still languish unless promoted by someone (you?)

Gosh . . . my not knowing where you are and where you want to go, it's impossible to qualify much less quantify.

Kind of a loaded question because you could easily spend $500k promoting yourself in all the wrong places and get zero return on investment. A better question might be "Where do I promote myself to get the greatest exposure?" Almost certainly it is not with any of the paid promo sites who just take your money and put your music in front of a bunch of other musicians who are essentially in competition with you.

Three proven ways to get your music heard by fans:

1. Play lots of live shows and be able to attract increasing numbers of people each time. This is proof that you really have something to sell.

2. Youtube. Hot performances attract a ton listeners who then want to buy your music.

3. Film soundtracks. Remember Pulp Fiction? It put Dick Dale in front of a whole new generation of fans. He is still touring today with one of my favorite local drummers, Dusty Watson. Great seminal music puts a film over the top in sales and directors know this. Get your music in front of Screenwriters, directors and producers. You may need an agent for this but they will be worth the 15% they keep. You must be able to attract large crowds in order to attract an agent for soundtrack work. See item #1.

Have your music recorded proper. How much that'll cost... I'm not one to answer that but I do know you have to write undeniably good songs... Recorded ready to go these days.
Got to have the goods to even have a chance.
Have final mastered mixes with and without vocals as well. Sometimes they only want the music.
Good luck to you!

Tunecore is a distributor, not a marketing plan. I've been with them and they automatically renewed me before I had the chance to bounce this year.

But these guys might be a better choice....

http://www.emubands.com



That said, there a bazillion ways to spend money on marketing/promotion and it needs to be part of a larger strategy.

Here is an example of a simple outline, but there are as many different ways as there are bands, so get creative and focus on your own strengths and eliminating as many weak areas as possible.

http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/7-mu ... -know.html

Thanks for all the replies thus far! Would you say that paying money to get radio plays is a good strategy to gain exposure for my music?

Thanks again!!

John

john998392 wrote:Thanks for all the replies thus far! Would you say that paying money to get radio plays is a good strategy to gain exposure for my music?

Thanks again!!

John

Paying money to whom to get played where? There are a zillion 'never heard of' internet streaming radio stations, only the big ones (like Pandoa, Spotify) offer a chance to actually be heard, and you can't pay to be on them.

john998392 wrote:Thanks for all the replies thus far! Would you say that paying money to get radio plays is a good strategy to gain exposure for my music?

This is an excellent idea to get your band out there John. For only $400 a month I can get you in the prime drive time rotation here at KPCA radio LA. The best investment you could make in your future. Shall I send you my paypal address so we can get this started? I only have a few spots open in the 4-6pm time slot. Act now before it's too late!

Actually you can (and do) pay to be on Spotify and Pandora when you sign up for CDBaby Pro or Tunecore. Jango is separate from that but you can set the demographic and location you want your music playing in.

You can only take advantage of those services by touring where there seems to be interest, and by having original music.

But any product you want to sell takes advertising, so it's a good idea for some (who have prodced good original music and can deliver it to where they get interest) while not much help for most others.

Ted - I hadn't realized Spotify was a 'pay to be played' place, but you're right. Pandora is not, though - you have to submit your music to them.

Does anyone know if I can see the demographics of my audience if I get my music played on any of these internet radio sites?

I wan't to be able to understand my audience better to see which groups I should target.

Thanks!!!

John

Thejohnny7band wrote:

john998392 wrote:Thanks for all the replies thus far! Would you say that paying money to get radio plays is a good strategy to gain exposure for my music?

This is an excellent idea to get your band out there John. For only $400 a month I can get you in the prime drive time rotation here at KPCA radio LA. The best investment you could make in your future. Shall I send you my paypal address so we can get this started? I only have a few spots open in the 4-6pm time slot. Act now before it's too late!

How many listeners do you have? What genres do you normally play? Need some more info here lol.

john998392 wrote:Hey everyone,

I am an aspiring professional musician from NY. I want to try to begin to promote my music. In your opinion, how much is a good amount to spend in order to effectively get my songs out to the public? What steps should I take?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

John

Probably a minimum of $2000.
You have to have product that is in the ballpark of the big boys in Sound Quality.
There's an inclination to think that people will listen past any recording flaws and hear the song inside - They won't.

Start with good material and good recordings.
Then play in front of people in as many places as you can.

Go from there.

I also like what Johnny had to say.

Thanks for all the help guys..

A buddy of mine just told me about a music promotion site but I forgot the name..

I'll get back to you with the info soon.. It seems like an amazing site by the way he described it.

Best,

John