It seems as though many artists’ marketing tactics these days consist of giving away free music in the form of streams and downloads in hopes of getting attention. If you’re an artist with this game plan, there’s a problem; free music alone will be unlikely to garner the recognition that you hoped it would. Some people equate the free music promotion tactic to radio play. However, free music isn’t the equivalent of spins. Airplay reaches everyone with the dial on that station; there’s no requirement to hit play. Online, if the recipient actually sees the offer of “free” music, they need to be compelled to engage and click. Furthermore, music has been free online (illegally and legally) for nearly two decades. With free music, someone needs to find it and either stream it or download it (typically once) and then add it to a collection of thousands of songs on their playlists. Radio, on the other hand, mostly force feeds its audience the same music all day. These are two distinct activities with different results. The first helps you get music into someone’s library, that’s it. Just because your music is in on a playlist doesn’t mean anyone is going to listen to it. On the other hand, radio gets your music heard. The problem of course is that radio, for the most part, is typically only an option for a select group of artists backed by deep pockets.
So, what’s an indie artist to do to gain attention? Certainly, a balanced mix of promotions (including the online variety) should be in your repertoire of marketing tools. Below are three ideas that can be implemented to assist in building the awareness you’ve been seeking, and acquiring new fans as well. (These may seem obvious on the surface, but with more and more artists playing “follow the leader” in regard to online trends, physical world activities seem to be relegated to the non-priority aspects of most artists’ promotional strategies.)
1) Step outside your zone: Put your ear to the pavement in your hometown and find out who’s hot in a totally different genre than your own. Study what they’re doing to get people out. Make it a point to go and see some of these local artists’ shows. Their promotional activities might provide a new perspective needed to bring something novel to your marketing efforts.
2) Go live: Perform as much as you can. This is can be one of the most effective ways to help you reach an audience and create real fans and of course this helps you hone your skills. Even a strong performance video on Youtube will rarely make the same impression on an audience than a powerful live performance would. Try to remember the last several great videos you’ve seen online, you’ll find that most blend together. Now, think about killer live shows that you’ve attended—even those from years ago are typically more memorable than what you saw online a week or so ago.
3) Create a product: Put together an interesting physical package and make it available only at live shows. Think of this as a way of providing fans a memento—something to help remember by. And, this should go without saying, but speak with them while you’re selling. Real life social networking will always be more powerful than the online kind. Oh, and of course put on a killer performance before you get to the table. -Israel Vasquetelle
If you have input you’d like to share, feel free to comment.
