What do you do to promote your band?

[Lee Flier]

How do you get the word out about your band and your gigs? And, is it effective?

 

Also, what promotional resources do you wish existed that don't?

[daddymack]

Apparently not enough.

 

We have an e-mail list. We send a 'blast' before the gigs.

We put flyers in the venues 2 weeks prior.

We have a website with a gig calendar.

I post on the HC calendar (now), and drop a 'gigspam' thread in my favorite forum.

We also have an 'in' with a major local newspaper reviewer which I just recently established, but we have not been playing locally, so I have not tapped him yet...but soon...

[noisewave]

website

myspace

local messageboards

email list

poster downtown area, music stores, drop posters off at venue

put ad in local papers (what's happening section is free)

if we're lucky the venue will pay for a radio ad (new years)

[Terry Allan Hall]

In addition to all the things the previous posters listed:

 

bumper stickers

lapel/hat pins

2 1/2" buttons

CDs/cassettes

magnets

 

looking into T-shirts at the moment

[Inazone]

Locally we hand out flyers at shows, put up posters at area shops, and recently made two-song sampler CDs with the show info printed on the label.

 

Online, we maintain a website and MySpace page, post on many forums, and have an email list. For more long-term promotion, we have appeared on a number of compilation CDs, mail promos to webzines and print magazines, and participate in give-away contests.

 

So far, so good.

[Meatball Fulton]

All the usual:

 

-- radio and newspaper listings

-- fliers/cards at shows

-- e-mail list

-- word of mouth with friends and co-workers

 

It's hard to gauge what actually works but none of the above cost much to do. I finally gave up on snail mail lists, too expensive.

[orfalot]

Website

Max magazine (weekly entertainment guide-newspaper insert)

T-shirts

 

We really haven't done a good job promoting ourselves from the start but we've certainly gotten worse at it in recent years. We stay busy and we're not looking for fame as we're all in our late forties and early fifties in a classic rock cover band.

[xonetruedesirex]

flyer at shows

myspace

local scene messageboards

bigger national messageboards

merch (shirts, bandanas, stickers, etc)

word of mouth

[srsfallriver]

We're a wedding band. We get a ton of work from people that have seen us at prior weddings/functions. Apart from that:

 

website: www.the-RETURN.net

advertise on a couple regional wedding websites.

business cards at gigs and on public bulliten boards

public showcases (put on by us)

other public gigs

word of mouth

[fastplant]

See my sig ...man, I really gotta change the colors on that site.