For those of you like me who need help with getting your band name out and actually becoming decently sucessful so we dont continue on as simply garage band stuff.
working on getting a band started, but I need help figuring out the best ways to get my name about, if you suggest joining local music sites, I'm unaware of any because my area sucks, any good valid tips though are greatly appreciated!
soundcloud, reverbnation, and last fm are the most effective websites to use. As far as local promotion, its always good to think small and take baby steps. Play house shows! give out lots of free crap. Do all of this for a few months and you'll start to steadily see new faces in the crowds. Just be persistent and DON'T FUCKING GIVE UP.
If your looking to get a band started, try craigslist, facebook, and musicians connection. If you get frustrated, invest in some recording equipment and back line your set. People are more inclined to join existing projects then start from scratch, so it's definitely helpful to have something to show what you have to bring to the table.
YES! ^^^^ Fucking give them to EVERYONE that asks about your project but don't get cocky. Give them something to keep with them. Stickers are also cool to, cheap and effective.
And how would you suggest getting band money for someone like me just starting out with no clue? cuz i know im gonna need it in order to get instruments, recording equipment, ect.
They cannot tell us who we are
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-If you can get access to a printer, you can make cards. They don't have to be super fancy, just what you need. I design mine in GIMP then have them printed in sets of 8 on 8x10 photo paper, printed at a regular photo place.
-Network with people who already have the equipment. Help them out with whatever they need in return for use of the gear.
-Get your instruments from pawn shops. You may find a really good deal on a really great peice
-Get to know people who have instruments and set up jam sessions, do demos, then you can sell those demos and make money
-By working with many different people, you have many different options.
Focus first on getting something excellent recorded ... Spend years on that like anyone has to ... Or otherwise a good live show to attend ... Don't promo anything until you have that in place... I've seen many do it so wrong - have the websites, the stickers, the biz cards but no music!!! - And it's very weird.
Also, don't expect to make any money from a polished album release let alone a demo. Even in the '90s (before the widespread availablity of free music online) it was very hard to make back your costs with demos or indie released albums. I know 'cos I ran a label for years and poured my heart, soul and wallet into it and know others who did too. I had a lot of airplay on popular national radio stations. I barely covered my costs and only did so with a huge amount of work.
And now is harder: today's market is that people are used to getting popular mainstream label stuff for free; why would they spend money on demos from a local (and in their eyes) "amateur" band? Very few people do. Especially in our genres - people tend to despise anything local and glorify something exotic. In my case Australian locals ignored and deplored my work (including compialtions of Aus artists) that was being praised by Europeans and Americans.
To maybe make money (once you have the music) build up a great live show and sell cool merch - shirts, mugs etc. There are bands in our genres whose music is IMHO quite rubbish but they're popular 'cos of cool image and merch. And try and make a snazzy video for youtube. Music sites come and go. I have seen many be very big and disappear within a few years eg. mp3.com (huge in late 90s early 00s), myspace, amongst many others. I think youtube will stay around a long while though. Even if you just have some pics to go with a great track, send people to that.
internet promotion is pretty much like trying to shoot mosquitos with a shotgut
back in the day the music biz seemed to be pretty much like "sell a lot of albums in order to get gigs at decent venues" (well, it's only hearsay 'cos I'm way too young to know for sure) and nowadays it seems to be "play a lot of gigs to sell at least some albums"
and although there's all kinds of forums, and it doesn't hurt to have a profile at least in Facebook YouTube, MySpace and whatnot, I think it's crucial to have your own domain, as well.
Carved In Ashes just deciced to use Bandzoogle.com. It's relatively cheap, even with the pro-version, and there's all kinds of neat features: your own webstore, mailing list, blog, video and photogallery etc. - and one of the coolest features: "a site-wide" music player, so that you can stream the songs nonstop even while browsing thru the pages!
I highly recommend. the price range is 10-20 dollars a month, depending on the bundle of features you want.
"The first kiss cuts the deepest, and the bleeding never stops..."
guys how about to show bands that already exists but need a little bit help to get that step closer to popularity? they exists since 2007. I see some ppl already made pages for they favourite bands and which does not mean that they are owned by them. Is it possible to make such site? So that every ppl interested will join and vote for them, they play really fck'n good music and i would like to show them on FV band profiles to help a bit. They also need help to make CD's.. They have recorded demos but dont have enough money to release them on the market. Anyway.. I dont have a bit experiences about doin band pages, so would be really grateful for every advises from experienced ppl. (sry for my english im still sleepy xd)
The best way to promote his band is for him to go busking and play out as much as possible. Yeah, social media definitely helps, but he needs to get a following that he can back up. Venues look at a lot of aspects, and their likes on Facebook/Soundcloud/etc is but one small facet of it all. They may have a million fans on Facebook but only 10 people that will show up at their shows... Not a good way to go. What I might recommend doing [it'll take a bit of money, but it's definitely a way to go] is to get a small gig somewhere, and have the band buy like 50 tickets. They can sell or give out the tickets from there. Then at least they have those 50 tickets they can put in their press kit as sold. Once they establish their press kit they'll find it significantly easier to get gigs because they'll have something to show the venues "Yeah, we can definitely sell your club/festival out." If they can get to know and work with some bigger bands to help get their exposure that's even better. If you can meet with a few bands that have a similar style and maybe a slightly larger following and try to get a show lined up with them, they can all go to the venue and show up with a whole package set up. All the venue has to do is do a little advertising and give them the stage time.
^^^^ Copy/pasted my answer from a thread that's barely even half way down the Lounge's main forum, with one minor change [since that post was done by a girlfriend of a band member, not an actual band member..] My guess is that once Moon or another mod catches this thread it'll probably get locked like the other did.
Whoops, guess I didn't catch all of the references to the boyfriend in that post, but it's all the same idea. Find bands that are more popular that are similar genre-wise, and then book as many gigs as possible. Make a press kit [which is essentially a band's resume] and then take it from place to place and be like "Hey, we sold this many tickets at Suchandsuch Club. We know a few bands that would be willing to join us to book a four hour show. Can we book it at your place?"
