Members jkeeney1 Posted February 26, 2009 Members Share Posted February 26, 2009 We have been working on this album and finally finished it today and it sounds great and sent it in to get pressed. We want to get it out there and get our name known, but we have no idea where to start. Somebody please help me, we have been a band 5 years and nothing but local gigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pjrake Posted February 26, 2009 Members Share Posted February 26, 2009 have a CD release party, advertise the sh*t out of it, maybe even try to get bands you know on the bill (they will stick around, and their fans will most likely hang around too, thus increasing attendance), invite the press, try to get some labels to come (even local and/or indie labels), hire someone to shoot the performance. that's just one short term suggestion. if you feel that you exhausted the local scene (5 years should be enough), maybe it's time to hit the road and try a small tour, maybe with another local band to share expenses, gear, etc. something that we tried was pre-selling our CD. we're including the names of those that pre-purchased our CD on our Thank You section of the booklet. it's been working fine for us so far. we made enough to pay for the pressing of the CD and artwork. you can check out our banner on our main site. good luck! -PJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members anand4happy Posted March 3, 2009 Members Share Posted March 3, 2009 ohh yaa thanks keep posting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members supervillain Posted March 3, 2009 Members Share Posted March 3, 2009 set it up for sale online. places liek cdbaby.com offer listing your cd on numerous sites, they'll even get you a barcode (for a fee) so it can be tracked in case of radio play on stations and sales in stores, something to definitely consider. asides from that you have to start getting creative! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Poker99 Posted March 3, 2009 Members Share Posted March 3, 2009 Its a little late to start thinking about this , but do you have a reverbnation account? Upload some music there and use the widgets to spread your music on various sites. The net and live shows are your only options really... Radio airplay is for major league guys and prostitutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members danosongs Posted April 7, 2009 Members Share Posted April 7, 2009 The cornerstone of your marketing effort and where you should start: 1. Your own domain and Website 2. Your own blog 3. Use feedburner to distribute your blog via email 4. Feature your blog email sign up form Now go promote the heck out of your site and get signups. Then promote your CD and 1,000 other Fatal Irony products to your list via your blog. Oh, and stay off myspace and facebook and reverb nation and all those other consumer-producer sites. They are a complete waste of time and you are building someone else's business. Every friend you make there adds to their balance sheet - not yours. Don't be their pawn, build your own business. Also, make friends with Google - give it what it wants and you will be rewarded with free visitors forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members highhorse Posted April 10, 2009 Members Share Posted April 10, 2009 honestly, none of that is the best answer. you gotta tour your asses off. /thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted April 10, 2009 Members Share Posted April 10, 2009 something that we tried was pre-selling our CD. we're including the names of those that pre-purchased our CD on our Thank You section of the booklet. it's been working fine for us so far. we made enough to pay for the pressing of the CD and artwork. you can check out our banner on our main site.-PJ What a great idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members faileddrummer Posted April 12, 2009 Members Share Posted April 12, 2009 Alternative press, Loud Fast Rules magazine, newspaper reviews, internet reviews, put out a single on a comp CD, ship it around to some labels (don't count out the small ones, right NoFX? AFI? Anti-Flag? Etc...). Plenty of ways, you just have to think about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members uz3r Posted April 15, 2009 Members Share Posted April 15, 2009 I dont know what level your band is at but one of two things: If your not looking for a label or distro deal: press a bunch of discs (not too many!) and get it for sale online asap (CD Baby, Pay Pal etc). If you do want a label or distro deal: do not sell it independantly as above, instead find a good manager/bull{censored} artist to approach labels on your behalf with a brand new recording. Also... tour and play live stacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Poker99 Posted April 16, 2009 Members Share Posted April 16, 2009 I dont know what level your band is at but one of two things:If your not looking for a label or distro deal: press a bunch of discs (not too many!) and get it for sale online asap (CD Baby, Pay Pal etc).If you do want a label or distro deal: do not sell it independantly as above, instead find a good manager/bull{censored} artist to approach labels on your behalf with a brand new recording.Also... tour and play live stacks. I don't get why he shoudn't sell his cd independantly even if he is looking for a label? Anyway no label will sign them if they can't sell some by themselves! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thomazzz Posted April 16, 2009 Members Share Posted April 16, 2009 Send it out to as many University radio stations as you can. They are usually pretty open to playing unknown/obscure bands as long as they like it. If your band is any good and enough of these stations play your music your band could potentially chart on CMJ and get the attention all kinds of industry people. There are companies that you can hire to do this who will call the DJ's and promote your band personally. I can't remember the name of the company my band used a couple of years ago but I will find out and post later. I know two bands personally that have gotten record deals this way. If your music is good and appeals to a college age crowd this can be an effective route to take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members uz3r Posted April 16, 2009 Members Share Posted April 16, 2009 I don't get why he shoudn't sell his cd independantly even if he is looking for a label? Anyway no label will sign them if they can't sell some by themselves! Wrong in my experiance. What label would want to pick-up a release that has already been on sale? They would have already lost a significant cut of their potential profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thomazzz Posted April 17, 2009 Members Share Posted April 17, 2009 Dude, sell the {censored} out of them. Labels want to sign bands that they know are willing to work because being in a signed band is just that... WORK. They're not gonna sign a band that just sits around playing local shows and waiting for some label pluck them from obscurity and make them rock stars. Don't debate selling the album for a second. The idea that a label would shy away from a band that can move a few thousand copies on their own because it would cut in on their potential profits is retarded. They say that for every ten bands a major label signs only one makes them money so when a label, be it major or indie, sees a band that can sell records on their own they know that this is music that people dig and this is a band that has what it takes to be profitable and successful.... it's already been proven. This will not stop an indie label from signing your band because on these smaller labels your working your ass off the whole time and they want proof that you can and will do it. And no major label will even consider releasing your record as is for a second anyway. They record their bands in whatever $1000 an hour studio with whatever blowhard, hit-whore is making songs that sell at the time. Also, no amount of CD's you can sell on your own will come close to cutting in on the kind of money and the amount of your album they could sell. Sell the CD's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members voxfreak Posted April 18, 2009 Members Share Posted April 18, 2009 sell your body in exchange for 5 cds. Just kidding. Promote Promote Promote in everyway possible! Make a website, go out on the streets and sell your album to people! Dont be afraid to talk to people and youll be successful. Also put your cd out for sale at gigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 Wrong in my experiance. What label would want to pick-up a release that has already been on sale? They would have already lost a significant cut of their potential profit. Maybe your experience, but normally bands that get signed are bands that are already selling a butt ton of music. My friends in a band called Black Happy back in the 90s sold 7000 CDs in a year and a half. That got the attention of Capricorn Records, who signed them. Of course, they changed the band's name, made them fire the horn section and changed their sound and direction, resulting in a band called Shoveljerk that basically went nowhere, but that's another story. The labels don't pick up the records, unless it's for a distribution deal. Occasionally, they'll release the first independent CD under the label's covering (Like Columbia did with SRV's "Texas Flood" , which he made in Jackson Brown's home studio). But generally, the labels are picking up the band, not their records. If they like you enough to sign you, usually they'll re-record your CD with a producer they know and they'll turn it into a product they think they can sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Volitan Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 something that we tried was pre-selling our CD. we're including the names of those that pre-purchased our CD on our Thank You section of the booklet. it's been working fine for us so far. we made enough to pay for the pressing of the CD and artwork. you can check out our banner on our main site.good luck!-PJ How did you go about this. My LP is nearing completion as well, and have considered this route, but can't figure out the actual logistics of it, especially considering I don't play live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 Just give it away for free everywhere. Hard copies, internet, whatever. Then go out and play a bunch of free gigs anywhere and everywhere that will let you. Make T shirts and stickers and matchbooks and underwear with your band name and logo on it. Give those all away too. In fact, put a 50 dollar bill inside every 10th CD you make and take put an ad in the paper and on the radio telling everyone. The winners will get a tour of your home studio and rehearsal room-you know, sort of like Willy Wonka. Sit back and reap the rewards of having tens of fans! Okay, not really. Just send your stuff to college radio and commercial stations that have indie or special programming slots. Email the stations first and ask the PD if you can send one and to whom. Same with music magazines and ezines. A lot of them have sections where they review unsigned and unknown bands. Of course go the itunes/ rhapsody/Amazon thing ( I used tunecore to distribute my stuff to all of them) and play out as much as you can. Promote like crazy-promoting is as much or more part of the job as performing. You simply have to make yourself stand out from the sea of stuff available or you won't sell anything. And for God's sake, if you're going to give away music, give away sample MP3s only, not your whole disc, and if you give away physical discs, give them only to people who can do something for you-other bands, promoters, agents, reviewers, PDs, etc. Good luck and happy hunting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Poker99 Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 Dude, sell the {censored} out of them. Labels want to sign bands that they know are willing to work because being in a signed band is just that... WORK. They're not gonna sign a band that just sits around playing local shows and waiting for some label pluck them from obscurity and make them rock stars. Don't debate selling the album for a second. The idea that a label would shy away from a band that can move a few thousand copies on their own because it would cut in on their potential profits is retarded. They say that for every ten bands a major label signs only one makes them money so when a label, be it major or indie, sees a band that can sell records on their own they know that this is music that people dig and this is a band that has what it takes to be profitable and successful.... it's already been proven. This will not stop an indie label from signing your band because on these smaller labels your working your ass off the whole time and they want proof that you can and will do it. And no major label will even consider releasing your record as is for a second anyway. They record their bands in whatever $1000 an hour studio with whatever blowhard, hit-whore is making songs that sell at the time. Also, no amount of CD's you can sell on your own will come close to cutting in on the kind of money and the amount of your album they could sell. Sell the CD's! + 1000 Labels take a success and try to make it 10 or 100 fold by putting money in it. Its their business model! If you can't sell by your own, no way will they believe in you. They don't care about music or if you have talent or not, they want to know if it sells or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Synonym Music Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 Wrong in my experiance. What label would want to pick-up a release that has already been on sale? They would have already lost a significant cut of their potential profit. She says otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members whiteop Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 it's all about the connections and timing usually, not so much the talent. If it was about talent, many of the forumites here would be bigger names than a lot of the acts that are touring (I mean, how hard is it to play "Start Me Up" (Rolling Stones). You need to find some bigger venues and buddy up with some of the guys you meet and network. Find someone that has connections and work it. Internet promotion doesn't hurt but there are so many doing it now and the competition is so intense you'll have to find a way to stand out by doing something a little different... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Inazone Posted May 1, 2009 Members Share Posted May 1, 2009 The situation differs depending on genre. Bands trying to tap into the mainstream market are going to have a tough time without proven sales and some sort of representation. But in some of the niche markets and underground genres, having the right sound at the right time can be all it takes. It's almost sad to say, but my own experience from just a few years ago probably doesn't apply in the current iTunes environment. My band got signed to a well-established European indie, based solely on a demo that we sent them. We only had *ONE* gig under our belts and that "tens of fans" local following. We got signed, got an album out (after some major compromises on the production) and were "international artists" before we'd played our fourth or fifth gig. We had the sound that label happened to be looking for. Unfortunately, they spread their money too thin and went under, so we never saw a dime from sales. That's not saying much though, as only a few hundred copies sold before the label's inventory was liquidated for pennies on the dollar. However, we got to know a few of their media contacts, so when we started recording new material for an EP and eventually a new album, we were able to get radio play and reviews. If you're not too picky, you can get your album reviewed on dozens of websites, played online and on radio, and get exposure before you approach any labels. Having some solid sales numbers wouldn't hurt, but each label is different. Some would be happy to work out a licensing deal for your current album and sign you on for a follow-up, while others might want to get you back in the studio ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dthraco Posted May 1, 2009 Members Share Posted May 1, 2009 Just don't do like most other bands do after finishing an album...and break up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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