Music Marketing [dot] com

How to Get 200% More People at Your Next Gig

New movie coming out June 7...

It has absolutely nothing to do with the music business, but one of the ways they're promoting it will help you double your show attendance...

Yesterday, I was at the self-checkout at Kroger. It usually prints out coupons for food it thinks you'll like, but instead, it printed this...

Brilliant.

Like you and your music, the biggest issue new movies face is that nobody knows about them. Sure, the trailer above is online, and it's available to anybody, but if you don't know it exists, it might as well not. 

The BOGO (Buy One, Get One) offer above, which you can modify and use for your live gigs, works because of this:

Almost nobody goes to a show alone.

There is no "one ticket" option here. If somebody wants to take advantage of the freebie, he has to buy a ticket and that means he ends up with two. A single person doesn't need two tickets to the same show, so he's very likely to start talking to his friends about attending the event with him.

This starts a discussion.

"Oh, you don't know about this movie? Check this trailer online, because it's hilarious..."

If you do a promotion like this for your band, the conversation will be more like:

"Oh, you don't know about this band? They are awesome! Here's a link to some music..."

What's that worth? Much more than the price of the free ticket you're giving away.

What is the price of a ticket anyway? For club shows, it's almost nothing, because club shows have a fixed cost. You can play to 100 people for about the same price as you can play to 50, so why not bring in as many people as possible?

The longtern payoff is much better than the shortterm of doubling attendance at a show though. You now are right in the middle of a shared experience between friends. If they have a good time on the initial outing, they'll be likely to repeat it -- and buy your music as well as other things you're selling, so they can take the experience with them.

Want more ideas like this? Read my book Six-Figure Musician - How to Sell More Music, Get More People to Your Shows, and Make More Money in the Music Business.

Music Marketing Podcast #3 - House Concert Tips and Advice (Part 2)

A house concert is a musical that is presented in someone's home or apartment, or a nearby small private space such as a barn, apartment rec room, lawn, or back yard.

In this episode of the Music Marketing [dot] com Podcast, Wendy and David discuss house concerts and Wendy's interview with house concert guru Fran Snyder in Episode #2.

Visit ConcertsInYourHome.com for more information on Fran Snyder.

In this episode...

• Should you stream your house concerts online or keep them as "private" events?
• How can you host your own house concert and make it an event people want to attend?
• The best way to find somebody to host a house concert.
• Are house concerts good for all musicians?
• Where are the best places to do a house concert?
• How to get Beyonce to play your house.

These are a few of the many things David and Wendy discuss.

You can listen below or subscribe via iTunes.

Music Marketing Podcast #2 - House Concert Tips and Advice

In this episode of the Music Marketing [dot] com Podcast, Wendy talks to house concert guru Fran Snyder of ConcertsInYourHome.com about house concerts and how independent artists can use them to connect with fans.

Can you "make a career" out of house concerts?

What can you do to motivate volunteers?

How do you find "hosts" for house concerts?

These are a few of the many things Wendy and Fran discuss.

You'll also learn:

• The way to keep ASCAP/BMI off your back
• Why keeping your event small is a good idea
• How to develop beneficial relationships with other musicians
• What to think about before streaming your house concert online
• Advice for organizing and hosting your own house concerts

You can listen below or subscribe via iTunes.

House Concerts - 7 Tips for a Successful Event

Your hostess...Jennings

A house concert is a performance that is presented in someone's home or apartment. Some people take the concept to a different level, holding events in dedicated (but still private) spaces, such as barns or outdoor areas.

A house concert  is a great way to make extra money, pick up a show in a location without a suitable club, or give your fans a different, more intimate experience than they'd get in standard, public venues. If you're looking to maximize tour income and create deeper relationships with fans, house concerts are a great option.

Over the weekend, I attended a house concert hosted by (and featuring) Jennings. Here are her tips for hosting a house concert:

1. Provide great sound.

This can be easily achieved with a small PA system. You want your house concert to be able to compete with good venues and, in order to do that, you need great sound. Volume needs kept at a decent level and not become too loud or too quiet. Also, since it's an intimate setting, keep the music intimate. I recommend keeping the music acoustic (without loud drums and huge amps). 

2. Provide ambience.

Make sure the lighting is right, there are comfortable seats, and the temperature of the room is right. Again, this needs to compete with venues so you need to make sure the rooms feels and looks right. You want everyone to be as comfortable as possible.

3. Serve something.

There's no need to get crazy but if people are going to stay awhile, there needs to be food and beverage. If you are on a tight budget, make it BYOB, potluck, or put a tip jar out for food.

4. Don't overplay.

Since this is such an intimate setting, people are going to come in, sit, and listen. Make sure that they don't get restless.

Regardless of how many artists play, I would recommend having no more that 90 minutes of live music. Also, make sure to give them a brief break in between sets to get food or use the restroom. I recommend a 10 minute intermission (at most) because you don't want people to leave.

5. Have an email list.

A person attending a house concert is the person most likely to attend additional house concerts. Give those who like house concerts a chance to attend others. In addition, getting contact information from attendees will allow you to followup with photos from your event, which will deepen the relationships you've formed.

6. Keep everyone together.

If you have a bigger house, shut off the extra bedrooms, the upstairs, etc. You don't want to let people have the opportunity to go to other parts of the house to chat or hang. Keep them in the area of the performance. They are supposed to be there to listen.

7. Be a good host.

Even if you are the one performing, make sure that everyone has what they need. Also, it is your responsibility to keep people quiet during the other performances. In such a comfortable setting, it is easy for people to start chatting, etc. You don't need to be rude, but it can be a good idea during the performance, as well as breaks, to remind people to keep it down. You want everyone (attendees and artists) to be happy at the end of the night.

A house concert is a great way to test new material, encourage word-of-mouth marketing, and build relationships with fans. Because every venue is different, every experience is different. And because house concerts are promoted, for the most part, via personal relationships, it is much harder to oversaturate an area.

Regardless of your genre of music, I encourage you to add house concerts to the way you promote and make money from your music. They are simple enough that you could book one today and have a successful performance tonight, yet scalable enough that you could make a fulltime living playing nothing but house concerts.

Play Your Game

I get a lot of emails from musicians who feel like they don't "fit in" and, because of that, have a sense of hopelessness when it comes to creating a successful career in the music business.

I'm a believer that the music business has enough room for everybody who really wants to be here. And if you don't "fit in," there is a great opportunity for you to do very well by taking advantage of the situation.

Here is how you do it...

Play your game.

If you don't like what happening at your table, change the table. Don't like the people hanging around you? Move.

You are in control.

Last night, I went to an album release show by Tom Brislin. Normally, these shows are at a club. For an independent artist, the cover is usually about $10 and it's not uncommon to get a CD (or download of the album) for that price.

None of these things happened last night.

Tom could play a club (or any standard music venue) and feel right at home. He's certainly done that in the past, as a touring musician for acts like Meat Loaf, Yes, and Debbie Harry.

This was for his album though. And as what I'd call a musicians' musician, he picked a different venue-- a Steinway Piano Gallery.

When I walked in, going past the sales floor to the concert area, the first piano I looked at was $108,000. Definitely not the standard piano, or the standard venue.

The price of the event reflected that. Tom was getting $25 for what most people only charge $10 for. He was doing the same work as he would in a club, bascially, but charging 150% more.

That is playing your game.

He performed on a Steinway D-274, the standard for concert grand pianos. It takes balls to sit down at a piano like that.

And the show was just him. He didn't wait for other musicians to see his vision and join him, he did it alone.

That is playing your game.

When you show up like this, the music business has no choice but to make room for you.

Music Marketing Simplified

We buy things from people we like. We want to deal with people, just like us, and see a “face” behind the company.

This is where most musicians screw up big time! For maximum results with your music marketing, people need to feel like they know you. After that, they can make the informed decision to like and trust you.

And that's the point where people decide to spend money with you!

For musicians, these things are limited when you take yourself out of the marketing process by acting “untouchable” or too much like a company.

You are living the life that most people wish they could. While they’re working, you’re playing music.

Playing music is fun. Working a job is not fun.

In your marketing, continue on this theme by giving people more fun and less business. Make them feel as if they’re dealing with you directly, because you’re fun. The more people associate you with fun, the better they’ll like you and the more they’ll buy from you.

There are a million ways to do this and a great example of how to do it at a live show is below. It takes the fun of the live performance and transfers it from the stage to the merch booth. It will boost your merch sales as well as strengthen the connection you have with fans. It works in venues of all sizes, from coffee shops to arenas.

Have advice on how to boost merch booth sales? Post it below...

851 Tickets Sold - What To Do When Your Gig is Empty

This is Seal in concert. The image was taken at his July 29, 2012 performance in Nashville, TN.

There were 851 tickets sold. The venue holds about 2500.

It didn't matter. He played his ass off.

That's one of the things that makes him a professional.

You'd think handing a similar situation like this would be obvious. But it's not...

I talk to acts all the time who think they do better in larger venues, with a large crowd. And I've seen acts insult the audience for not being more into the show.

"You need to make some noise and get into this!! You're as quiet as church mice out there!"

Not good.

I get it that it's a disappointment when turnout for your gigs is light, but just to be clear, as the act on stage, you have two jobs regardless of the venue you're playing or how many people show up:

1. Put on a good show.
2. Give people something to get excited about.

If you can't do these things in a small venue, you'll never do them in a large one.

A ticket buyer doesn't care how many other people are there; he wants to see a good show. It's not his job to get you excited about making that happen.

If a small turnout can happen to Seal, with 20 years of radio hits behind him, it can happen to anybody. Share stories (good and bad) about your low-turnout gigs below...

Michael Jackson's Secret

Went to see Cirque Du Soleil's Michael Jackson show last night. I'm a fan of both Cirque Du Soleil and Michael Jackson, so it was a good combination for me.

As I was sitting there watching, with hundreds of stage lights, dozens of video screens, and more than a few smoke machines going off almost constantly throughout the two-hour performance, I had these thoughts...

Michael Jackson didn't need any of this.

Cirque Du Soleil doesn't need any of this.

Don't get me wrong. The show is very good and the pyrotechnics and special effects add a lot, but these things are not what makes the show such a great experience though. 

Any of the performers in this show could get on stage without any effects, explosions, or even a single spotlight and put a hush over the audience. When you're as good as they are, the extras are optional.

Michael Jackson was the same way.

Can you say the same thing about yourself? If not, how are you going to compensate?

Perhaps the songs... A great song that really connects with people will cut a mediocre performer a lot of slack.

But know that there are artists you're competing against who have both great songs and undeniable talent. You'll better your odds of success if you have the same.

How does this level of performance and quality of material happen? It's very simple, but it's not easy...

Do the work.

You don't get to the top of your professional, performing in a world-class production such as something by Cirque Du Soleil, with just a few minutes per day, or even a few years of study. The people at this level have dedicated their lives to what they do.

Can you say the same thing about yourself?

Ready to get better? Follow these two steps...

1. Play with people better than you are.

The only way to get better is to play with people who stretch you to a greater level. This means playing with people who are better than you are. 

Make a goal to be the "dumbest guy in the room."

2. Be persistent.

You'll almost never get it right the first time. Don't let that stop you from tweaking things and trying it again.

For example... Billie Jean, from Michael Jackson's Thriller album, was mixed 91 times.

Greatness doesn't happen overnight!

Best wishes!

How to Pack Like a Rock Star

Shawn Huberts wrote a book called How to Pack Like a Rock Star. He also wrote the following post...

Whether you're going on tour for 2-3 days, or 2-3 months, the idea is still the same...

While getting ready to leave on tour, there are always a couple of things that must be done first.

1. Make sure you have all your proper gear and instruments.

2. Make sure you've packed your bags for the road.

Warning: the pure joy and excitement of tour can often overshadow the latter… but don't let it! This is a very important step.

I've found that one of the best ways to help a tour run smoother comes directly from a properly packed suitcase.

You think I'm crazy? Well think about it this way... It's 2 minutes till showtime and you've just spent the entire day recovering from your exhausting drive through the night; you and your bandmates are grumpy and hungry (among other things) and the last thing you want now is a 5-minute rummage through your bag only to find out now that you didn't bring your favorite stage shirt. No one wants to go on stage with that attitude!

You say to yourself, "If you had just packed properly before you left, if you had just been a little more organized, you wouldn't be in this conundrum right now when you should be focusing on the show!”

It seems minor, but trust me, after a few tiring days, not to mention after the three-week mark on tour… this can be what puts you over the top… 

Let your suitcase be the Zen in your life…look down at it…feel the warm glow of comfort that may arise in your soul. No matter how stressful a show or tour can get, a well-packed suitcase can be a breath of fresh air. And trust me, fresh air is hard to come by when you’re crammed in a van with band mates who haven’t had the luxury of regular showers.

Ok maybe all I'm saying is this… There are enough distractions and frustrations on a even a smaller 3-date tour, so do yourself a favor and create your own source of inner peace and inspiration within the madness, and you'll be able to more freely enjoy the amazing experiences that touring and traveling has to offer.

Now here's a little advice to get you started and on your way:

1. Place the clothes in your suitcase vertically, as if you were replacing a file in a filing cabinet (see photo).


2. Fold your jeans so that the back pocket stitching is the most visible part (this allows you to easily distinguish which jeans are which without having to search through them all).


3. Fold your t-shirts in a similar manner as your jeans, but this time, have the chest of the shirt most visible (where a logo may be).

In order to make my shorts and jeans the same height (vertically in my pack), I fold my jeans in thirds and then again in half (1/6 total) and my t-shirts in half, then half again, (1/4 total), but modify it to suit your own specific suitcase. 

I don't roll my clothes because it ends up causing more wrinkles in the end… not to mention it's impossible to tell which shirt is which if you have two similar colored shirts… oh and don't even get me started on the "it saves space" argument… just think about this, are building blocks square or round? Exactly.

Creating "Moments" on Stage

Here is an example of one...

U2 came through Nashville over the weekend. During the show, Bono pulled a guy out of the audience and let him play "All I Want Is You" on his guitar. Then he gave him the guitar.

Needless to say, if you can do something that gets this kind of reaction at one of your shows, you should! :)