Getting Your Name in Lights

Calling all under the radar musicians, are you struggling to get your name in lights, do you feel like giving up? Don't fear and have a read of this and see if it can lift your spirits.

I am not a musician myself, in fact I can't play an instrument and I'm only just a bearable singer. I have however got a fair few friends that have and are still trying to break into the music industry. These friends of mine have been struggling back and forth to get a glimmer of hope. It seems that even if you have 1000 followers on Facebook and have uploaded 50 videos on YouTube you can still go unnoticed. It is saddening as it makes it easier for musicians to give up resulting in talent being thrown away like an old pair of shoes.

This short extract from Kyan Kuatois a singer song writer from Cambridge gives a personal insight into what it really takes to make it in the music industry.

Truly making it the music industry takes three key factors, talent, hard work and exposure.
Talent is what set's you apart, and gives you a reason to want to work hard and perfect your craft. Hard work is what improves your talent and makes you deserving of exposure. Exposure is what gives you the platform to get yourself to a big enough audience that you can start to make a living from what you do.

A lot of artists/bands today skip steps, or lack some of these fundamental foundations. Many have exposure before they've worked hard and learned their craft, which gives them no staying power. Others work hard, and have exposure, but regarding talent, have nothing new, special, or original to offer..

However, if one does have talent, and the predisposition to work hard, the hardest step is definitely getting exposure. With so many different avenues, Myspace, YouTube, Twitter, Major Labels/Indie Labels, Live gigs/Ustreams...It's important to know yourself as an artist and approach these in the appropriate way for yourself.

It's important to build a fanbase of core fans, those that take you seriously, those that truly admire what you do, the guys who will buy your record, buy your merchandise...If you have that, then you are at a good starting point. Great music speaks for itself.

Any manager, PR company, website, record company that truly understands the above, and can offer their artists exactly that; is worth exploring.

My current role at Yellowbelly Online Ltd as an internet marketer has led me to work on a music website called FameFactor. FameFactor supports and promotes up and coming unsigned and undiscovered musicians. It is good to see that there is a place for musicians to go and share their music; it is a good chance to build your fan base, giving you a more diverse audience to the followers you may have acquired on Facebook. Having the support from other artists is also helpful; to receive constructive criticism or maybe just to chat with other musicians, see if anyone has the leads that you need. I really believe that if you think you have got what it takes and have the determination then get yourself out there, you will never know unless you try.

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Getting Gigs As a Professional Band

Everyone has dreamed at some point of being in a band. But playing Wembley Stadium to 1000s of screaming fans and travelling around in chauffeur driven limousines unfortunately isn't the reality of your average professional band.

Every successful band is treated as a 'business model'.

The internet is usually the place that every band starts, using social websites such as Facebook, Twitter and most recently, Linked In are increasingly accommodating to bands & Musicians. It is often free for bands to join, upload MP3s, videos, gig dates and biographies. By doing this you are keeping your fans up to date with what your band is up to and reaching a wider audience.

Websites such as Bandcamp have also cropped up in recent years. These sites allow users to design a profile, which they can upload songs and artwork to. In addition to this users are able to keep track of fans email addresses, which can be downloaded to an Excel document, making it easy to send newsletters to your all important fans! To top it all off Bandcamp only takes a small commission from its users sales, meaning it is a cost effective way of getting your music out there. For this reason it has become a bands best friend.

Musician Directory websites are also very popular, although it is often very difficult to be found as potential customers have to sift through a never-ending list of mediocre bands in order to find the diamond in the rough. There are often hundreds of profiles so make sure that you include as much information as possible in order to make your profile stand out from the rest! Adding videos of your band playing is a great start to show people what to expect from a live show (assuming the videos are good quality!). It's also a good idea to get people to write a review of your gig on your profile page. The more great reviews, the more gigs!

Busking isn't something everyone has tried. However, it's undoubtedly a great way of making some money and promoting your talent. Contemporary and function bands have taken to the streets countless times in order to entertain the masses. If you're any good you're bound to be offered a gig somewhere, if not at least you'll make some money!

Another option is to offer yourself as an acoustic act as well as a full band to accommodate everyone's needs. Being a Jack of all trades' isn't a bad thing in music.

Last, but definitely not least are house bands. House bands regularly play in a venue 2-3 times a week and become very popular with the locals usually having a standard repertoire of 20-30 songs. This exposure results in the bands receiving more bookings from their ever-growing audience. The practice doesn't do any harm either!

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Getting The Most Out Of Your Band Website

If you're an experienced music promoter, you know how powerful a strong web presence can be. For those that aren't experienced at promoting, there are certain elements every band website must have in order to get the most out of every visit. Read on to find out how each of these elements can impact your web presence:

Home Page: This is your main page. You don't want to waste this prime real estate by placing mundane or non interesting items on it. The goal with your home page is to draw the viewer deeper into some of your other pages. This can be done by putting some interesting "hooks" in an attention getting way such as "Party of the century coming your way! Check out our calendar for more information on this event you cannot miss!" You can also place small news clips from your page dedicated to news about your band. Of course, on the news page, you would draw the reader to your event schedule or page where you want them to buy your music. You will also want to place booking information here. Don't just put down an email address and call it good. You need all your information since each viewer is comfortable contacting you in a different way. If you're concerned about your address, get a post office box.

Event Schedule: This should be an organized and updated list of all your shows. Stick to a list format rather than a calendar since you will want to put small "hooks" under each event that allows the reader to think the event is going to be worth attending. Don't forget the location, address, and cover charge.

Band Info: You will want to put a short history of your band and a bio of each one of the members on this page including attractive photos. You can also place testimonials and achievements on this page. Your viewers want to know you've been involved with some surprisingly big shows and have shared the stage with some possibly well known artists. There are also "hooks" you can place here as well, for instance if your guitarist is very good at a certain style of riff, you may want to reference a song download that features that member doing something exceedingly well.

Samples: This page, which could be integrated into your home page, needs to have some or all of your work. You will also need to provide the user a way of downloading each song so you can maximize music sales.

There are also several other pages you could consider adding such as an online store to buy music and merchandise, a contact page for those who just want to inquire about your work or booking, and a photo gallery. As far as band art and other items go, you can integrate this throughout your entire site. Another very important element is having a band blog. This should be updated a minimum of every week to keep readers coming back to your site for entertainment value.

For more helpful tips on the music industry and music knowledge, visit http://www.phoenixarticles.com/. You can also visit http://www.phoenixparkproductions.com/ for additional resources for artists.

Jason Cook, Phoenix Park Productions - Music Promotion, Management, and Booking

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