Posted by Article on June 22, 2008, 8:43 am
Board Administrator
Random Tips on Promotions & Survival
1. Try to avoid promoting yourself to other artists. They hardly every buy CD's and your success is not of any importance to them. Your mailman or mechanic is a much more valuable fan than an artist that is trying to accomplish the same things you are.
2. Stay away from popularity contests if you are over 16 years old. I don't think they were ever intended for grownups anyway. If it requires you to ask someone to go vote for you it is of no serious importance. All it is gonna prove is that you and Grandma have more friends that don't have anything better to do than go vote in a silly contest than the other contestants do. It also gets your friends E Mail address on the SPAM list for whoever is putting on the contest. They'll remember YOU everytime they get SPAM from that company.
3. Try to send out a Newsletter about yourself as often as you can. Please keep in mind that your Newsletter is about YOU. It does not have to be about what you are doing in the music business. People want to get to know you as a person, not just as a singer. In the years we have been promoting Erin Hay we have let people know about everything from her pet rabbits and dog to when she almost burned down some people in Australia's house with her curling iron. Remember if there is nothing more to you than your latest "Single" not a lot of people are gonna be going out of their way to get to know you or promote you so tell them about yourself.
4. Remember you are in a very competitive business and there is nothing fair about it so there is no use to whine. If you don't have time to promote yourself then you don't want it as bad as some other artists do who somehow make the time. I always had a dream of being a brain surgeon but I didn't have the time or money to go to college and become a Doctor so now there ain't anybody around who will let me saw into their skull and poke around even though I know I have a talent for it and would be great ? Same thing goes for being a singing star. Just because it is your dream and you always wanted to do it don't mean anything. The world don't owe you that dream. You gotta work at it.
5. Go buy this book and read it from cover to cover 3 or 4 times. It is boring and it ain't no fun but didn't you say you would do whatever it takes to be a star ? Well this is part of what it takes. You can usually get a used copy on EBAY This Business of Music by M. William Krasilovsky
6. Don't try to be everything to everybody. Record the music you feel comfortable with. Fads change so don't follow them.
7. GOOGLE everything. If someone approaches you with any kind of pie in the sky deal just put their company name in www.Google.com
and see who they are. Hints. If they don't mention any names on the website of the owners of the company or have a contact phone number, get real suspicious. Also if they say they work with Rock n Roll, Country, Rap, Runway Models, Movie Stars and everything else you can pretty well figure it is a Scam. Companies that have that kind of clout in the different genres DO NOT use the internet to solicit business. If you will check your ego when reading these things you will be very hard to cheat but if you really believe that, like they say in the E Mail, you are God's gift to the music business and the world has just been waiting for you to come along then by all means run down to the bank and get a second mortgage on your home and send them however much money they want. Heck you will make all that money back in a couple of weeks then you can afford this bridge I want to sell you.
8. These suggestions are all just my opinion so take them for whatever they are worth to you.
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