Digital Distribution is cheaper and easier than physical distribution. It will cost you more than a thousand dollars to manufacture and produce just a few hundred CDs that you distribute locally. Compare that to
the cost of unlimited, worldwide, digital distribution which is generally under 100 dollars.
Just because your music is distributed worldwide, doesn’t mean it will be bought worldwide. It may well be cost effective to distribute worldwide through digital stores like iTunes and eMusic but what’s the point
of having your music for sale in Japan or Russia if no-one there knows you.
If you’re going to distribute digitally, then promote digitally. Digital distribution is a very smart move. But it’s not enough just to distribute digitally, you need to promote digitally. You need a MySpace, you need to start talking to your fans, you need an email list of people you can tell about your upcoming shows and releases. You need to connect with the fans of your favourite bands, you need to discuss your music on forums, promote it on Facebook, write to people about it who love music. To make the most of digital you need as many people writing and talking about you as possible.
Bob Baker runs a reasonably high profile blog giving his ideas on music marketing, promotion and branding for artists.Even though his website feels too much like an endless infomercial , he does present some rather compelling information.See, for example, how this guy sold 15,000 albums in 18 months by busking part time.
There’s also compelling (though unintentional) lessons on how not to market yourself:
Sure, theoretically, you could record a concept album using only hollowed out pumpkins and a euphonium and get a whole lot of people to pay attention.But what do you have to give once their attention is on you?Just an unlistenable concept album and a pile of rotting pumpkin.
Getting noticed is important.Just make sure that when you have people’s attention, you have the substance to hold it.
A big video production budget is one reason independent bands want to get signed to a major label.
A bigger budget means a better film clip, which means more people watching your band. Or so the logic goes.
But more than a big production budget, film clips need originality and creativity.
With a little thought, you can create original and creative clips on a shoestring.
Case in point, this excellent Bright Eyes clip for ‘First Day of My Life’ from his album ‘I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning’.
Closer to home, Flipbook Media, run by Matt Howland in West End, Brisbane put together this amazing clip for Tom Cooney. Again, a simple, powerful clip that didn’t cost the world.
Check out more of Matt’s work at www.flipbookmedia.com.au
1. DON’T say you sound like Nirvana, The Chilli Peppers or The Beatles. I promise you, no matter how good you are, you are only going to be a letdown if you use those bands as yardsticks.
2. DON’T refer to your band as ‘incendiary’. That word is to be used by others to describe you only. (Unless you are Jimi Hendrix, in which case, use away).
3. DON’T spell d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y with an ‘a’ (definately is not a word).
4. DON’T muck around with cursive text and loopy fonts. You want people reading what you wrote, not guessing.
5. DON’T talk about the last bands you used to be in. Unless of course you were in Bloc Party or The Midnight Juggernauts. A press release from a band you don’t know becomes very irrelevant, very quickly when it starts talking about a bunch of other bands you don’t know.
6. DON’T over do the in-jokes.
7. DON’T use words like ‘best’, ‘coolest’, ‘hottest’ in relation to your talents.
