Jump to content

Press Kit - what do you use?


Recommended Posts

  • Members

Put everything into a neat, professional looking folder. You should include a concise band bio. In the first paragraph detail exactly the point of the press kit. Examples: "We're looking for a record deal," "We're looking for management," "We're looking for an entertainment attorney," whatever.

 

In the bio include any accomplishments the band has made. Examples: Opened up for so & so. Played this high profile gig. Sold X number of copies of our demo (this must be able a significant number and you must be able to prove it.)

 

Length of time the band has been together. Where the band is based out of. Brief band history, brief individual member history listing any accomplishments. Example: "Was signed to such and such label."

 

Only include a photo if the press kit is for getting gigs or the place your sending to specifically asks for one or if your band has such a unique or striking look that it will help sell the band. Include lyric sheets for all the songs on your demo in the same order they are on the demo. Your demo should only contain 2-3 songs for an initial submission. Have your contact info on everything. Tapes and/or CD's get removed from their kits.

 

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

i've never done the song lyrics thing but whatever....

 

make sure you have contact info on EVERY sheet of paper and on your demo. not just the case but the CD too. its a small precaution that can get you that show,manager, deal..etc... Also, if you have gotten any press include the article. if you've had more than one only use the best. you should cut and paste it so it is on one sheet of paper nice and neat. unless this is for gigs, then include a list of your next few shows.

 

once you've mailed it and enough time has gone by to know the person got it. give them a followup call. say this is whoever from so and so "just wanted to make sure you recieved out kit." let them know that they shouldn't hesitate to call you if they have any questions. you might want to also tell them you'll put them on the guest list for your next show and if they can make it to do so.

 

this stuff should all be done by your manager. if you are the manager, then good to know you're trying.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

In one band i was in we were trying to promote ourselves to exclusive clubs. To do this we raised the expectations of our demo package rather high. We had a friend who was good with woodworking. He made little wooden boxes like fine wines come in only a lil bit bigger. In these we had a bottle of Royal Crown WITH the blue bag, wrapped in our photos and setlists, with the bands PATCHES and DECALS we had a local arts and crafts store make for us cheap. This also had a gift certificate for 25 dollars at the local steak and ale as well. Then we would drop off the promo package making sure it got to the bar owner before we left.

 

Most of them were so damn impressed they hired us on the spot. WHY? because they were shocked a band would do this. And becuase no bands these days go out of their way to impress an owner. And fortuneately, we drew a good crowd the nights we played most clubs.

 

Expensive way to get noticed? You betcha by golly!

But it worked and the money we made in those clubs afterwards more than paid for the initial costs.

 

But for the average cheap band just a cd of tunes, calling cards, website URL, and promo pics witha setlist and venues played will do nicely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

-Demo

-Bio of individual

-Bio of band

-Pictures of band, of band playin

-Webpage... looks really good if it is a .com name

-Acheievements.. won battle of the bands here

-Previous Gigs, and places to gig.. note.. make sure the places you gig at know your band!

 

That just the major details

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Originally posted by LynGrey

-Demo

-Bio of individual

-Bio of band

-Pictures of band, of band playin

-Webpage... looks really good if it is a .com name

-Acheievements.. won battle of the bands here

-Previous Gigs, and places to gig.. note.. make sure the places you gig at know your band!


That just the major details

 

Battle of the Bands???

 

LOL!:D

 

Sorry man, that is just so.....Gong Show :D

LOL!

Battle of the Bands??:D :D

 

No disrespect, but a "battle of the bands" citation in a real promo pak makes me laugh....

 

:D :D :D

LOL!

 

B

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Originally posted by drummerjoe

sure you did.
:rolleyes:

 

Well, if ya want to play the 500 and up clubs a night you better have something more than a pic and a song list.

 

Actually, the clubs we targeted were locked in to a few bookers we couldnt get access too. Spending the bigger bucks to impress the boss/owner got their attention and BYPASSED the normal booking agent. Club owner calls them up and just TELLS them to book so & so.

 

And this wanst obviously something for all clubs. Just the elite ones we just couldnt get into at the time. Maybe 5 altogether in the year i was with them.

 

Bribes have always been appreciated by club owners. :D

 

And if you think a total of maybe 50-100 bucks a package is too high a cost consider (for specialty clubs) what the returns would be in return bookings and income. If they are 500 dollar a night clubs then a one time shot of say 75 bucks isnt a big deal. Not really a bad investment when you look at it that way in my opp.

 

Wanna make big bucks? Spend them! Wanna look like everyone else? Send a songlist, equipment list, cd, with a couple pics in a plastic binder from krogers. If its good enough you may get the job. But you wont get special attention from the owner while he is reviewing it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Originally posted by drummerjoe

Gift Certificates and crown? Is your band that bad? Post a photo of one of these press kits.

 

after reading thorugh a lot of your posts Joe, I've come to the conclusion that you're a bit of a punk. You're probably just bored until the summer is over ... not old enough to drive a car yet .... like to troll boards....

 

 

Those are great ideas for a promo pack. Certainly if you're gigging in an area where there are a lot of bands trying to get the same club gigs. You gotta make your package stand out so it gets listened to, not just thrown on the pile ....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I had a big post up as a comeback to ya joe, but i deleted it after posting it (ask the mods if ya doubt it) because your attitude doesnt warrant it. Belive whatever ya want. Ive been round here long enough to know better than to feed the trolls. And ive posted enough for people over the years to know if im full of it or straight. The promo's i mentioned were back ages ago for a band called "Roust-A-Bout" when i was a fulltimer. We wernt lame but we certainly were not setting the world on fire, ya know... We were guilty of using gimmicks and bribes when needed. It usually worked. It got us some good payin jobs.

 

Belive what cha want.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

As someone else previously said, if it's for club bookings it can be less formal. Include how many people in your fan base.

 

If it's for a record deal make it as thorough and eye catching as possible. It has to stand out from thousands of others. It also has to be solicited. Meaning you can't just send something to a label that hasn't asked for it or OK'd it.

 

The other BIG thing (as someone else also said) is to follow-up a few days later to inquire that so & so got your package and did he/she have a chance to review it yet.

 

Without follow-up you are almost guaranteed to be at the bottom of the pile.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Hey, Joe, why don't you grow up? I happen to be familiar with Robby (aka Stratkat) for several years, both on the FDP and here, and the man knows his stuff. He is a seasoned veteran, unlike you, who, judging by most of your input, appear to be an inexperienced theoretician with lofty ideals and a snobbiash disdain for anyone who doesn't share them, as if there were only one road to the truth and you alone posess it. The cool thing about Stratkat is he has been where you are and has the experience of having gone through it and has been able to get over himself. You, however, have not. Being petulant and rude to your experiential elders only shows what an amateur you still are. Knock it off. You come across as a pimple faced little skateboarding bedwetter who can't resist spraypainting graffiti on the sides of Wal-Marts. Time to grow or go. :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Originally posted by drummerjoe

Rad dude. Seriously.

 

 

It's amazing how many people talk {censored} on the message boards. Grow up. When you have been what we have been through than you can talk about it or make comments. Otherwise shut the hell up unless you know what you are talking about. I bet you can't play a note of music worth a damn either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Hahahahaha whos talking {censored} again? Please. You take this place way to seriously. Its just text on the internet. You are resorting to some pretty childish behavior yourselves with some of the {censored} you are saying. All I said was, I dont believe him when he said that he sent crown and steak certificates with his press kits, and if he did its lame and stupid.

 

"pimple faced little skateboarding bedwetter who can't resist spraypainting graffiti on the sides of Wal-Marts" are you joking? if you want anyone to respect their "elders" as you put it.... then why resort to acting like that? does that make me respect you? please. I dont care what you have been through. It has nothing at all to do with anything... and I also dont care how old you are, or how much respect you think you have earned going no where with your music careers. I owe neither of you anything. Nor does anyone else. So quit being so easily bothered, and stop resorting to being 3x as much the child as you accuse me of being. I cant belive it takes so little to rattle you people up so much. And I will once again state... ITS AN ONLINE MESSAGE BOARD ON THE INTERNET, COMPOSED OF COMPLETE STRANGERS....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Drummerjoe-

 

why not post some music so we can hear what you are working on? That tends to shut folks down.

 

I'd like to hear some of your stuff-seriously!

You obviously have a certain band situation that is working out differently than most of us here-so maybe we can learn from you as well-

Could you post some stuff? a link to a website?

 

 

Peace,

Bryan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Originally posted by BryanMichael



Battle of the Bands???


LOL!
:D

Sorry man, that is just so.....Gong Show
:D
LOL!

Battle of the Bands??
:D
:D


No disrespect, but a "battle of the bands" citation in a real promo pak makes me laugh....


:D
:D
:D
LOL!


B

 

Why does "battle of the Bands" crack you up?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Originally posted by chadmo1



Why does "battle of the Bands" crack you up?

 

 

because they don't mean anything-

they are usually decided by the audience or by judges that are bored (YES I HAVE BEEN A JUDGE AT A BATTLE OF THE BANDS AND I PARTICIPATED (PLAYED) IN THEM WHEN I WAS YOUNG)

A better reference would be previous bar owners that know your work...they tend to trust each other for some reason.

 

It's kind of an "amatuer hour" sort of reccomendation....

 

Unless of course it' a REALLY big deal in your town and the bar owners will be impressed by it- usually they aren't-

in fact I'm laughing again!!!

 

BUT-

if you don't have much else to put in there, then by all means use it.

 

 

B

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Originally posted by BryanMichael



because they don't mean anything-

they are usually decided by the audience or by judges that are bored (YES I HAVE BEEN A JUDGE AT A BATTLE OF THE BANDS AND I PARTICIPATED (PLAYED) IN THEM WHEN I WAS YOUNG)

A better reference would be previous bar owners that know your work...they tend to trust each other for some reason.


It's kind of an "amatuer hour" sort of reccomendation....


Unless of course it' a REALLY big deal in your town and the bar owners will be impressed by it- usually they aren't-

in fact I'm laughing again!!!


BUT-

if you don't have much else to put in there, then by all means use it.


I have participated in a few sham like battles in my day too, but my band just entered the Jaxx battle of the bands. I know jaxx's is a lame 80's metal bar, but they have 249 bands entered. If a band were to win that, to me, that would seem like a pretty big deal.



B

 

 

I have participated in a few sham like battles in my day too, but my band just entered the Jaxx battle of the bands. I know jaxx's is a lame 80's metal bar, but they have 249 bands entered. If a band were to win that, to me, that would seem like a pretty big deal.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Hey guys, Joe is entitles to his opps the same as me. Its not a war thing. He doesnt believe me and thats cool with me. You guys know me well enough and know ive never been caught lying to ya. I just throw out my ideas and past experiences to try and open a few eyes here and there. Sometimes the dirty way of doing biz gets the job done faster than the legit way.

 

I used to believe that making it was all about talent and dedication. Then i learned the hard way like most of us the reality of the biz and how nasty and slanted it is. True, some people do make it the old fashioned way. But its also true there is alot of underhanded deals and bartering going on behind the scenes. Short cuts have always been around. o too have bands willing to take them and exploit them. For me, i learned that schmoozing and bribes cut through the BS in some cases and got the rewards i wanted. Its a business and i wanted success. As I grew older and got tired of being passed over in these types of clubs i decided to learn the ropes and play the game. Most guys playing in bars for under 200 a night wouldnt even think of spending this much money to impress big club owners that pay out 500 a night sometimes or higher. I wanted out of those 200 dollar clubs and into the better ones.

 

In this biz everyone whores somtime, somewhere, to get somthing if they want to be in the money. Im just honest about it. But i also know how much of a shock it was for me when i learned that talent and dedication doesnt mean squat in the biz. Its all about contacts and favors or the straight bottom dollar.

 

So no offense to Joe or anyone else. Like i said, believe what cha want. And thanks for the support!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...