Making an Impression on the Right Individual
by Chris Cofoni
Today's artist should be blogging and spreading the word via MySpace and like-minded music sites (Pure Volume, Jam Base, Garage Artist, Download.com etc.). Utilizing these means to blog and post music and videos only helps to get it in front of more people who can, in turn, pass the music along to the "right" person. Whether it is a label, a TV and film placement agency, a booking agent or otherwise, there are generally key people at each company that help make the pivotal choices. These are the people to get on your side early on and keep there. Artists can also add members based on regions and reach out to fans and potential fans by inviting them to events. This, plus a functioning website and hopefully some level of EPK (either sonicbids or otherwise), should help the artist get noticed initially. Artists should also sell their CDs online at Amazon.com, CD Baby and the many online distribution channels for physical sales. DSPs (Digital Service Providers) should also be offering downloads for sale.
Team up with strong local and regional acts in markets outside your own. This can be done by using MySpace, reading blogs, checking venue calendars to see who is playing where and when, and chatting online and with other musicians about strong acts. By opening for someone strong in a market, and pairing yourself with someone musically that makes sense, you stand the chance of increasing your odds at developing fans in that market.
Once established, find a booking agent with strong inroads, preferably in your genre of music. This will enable the agent to move you into key rooms and pair you with other artists that make sense. Many times, if agents are not geared toward the same genre of music, it can be a cause of great frustration for the artist.
After the show is confirmed, advance the show and push for a media kit. This will help you in your efforts to get some local press and radio coverage around your show. Oftentimes these lists get you in touch with key people.
Having a publicist is a key part of getting your name out there. As an artist, you only have a certain amount of time every day to work on the business and the music. You will find the music growing stagnant if you focus too much on business and not enough on rehearsal, recording and playing out. The publicist's job is to work on getting EPs and LPs reviewed, get local and regional tour press, and build some level of national reviews and coverage. This helps the artist to cross paths with people. The key is to fire on all cylinders so that people are reading about the artist, hearing about the artist, and able to find music and information about the artist easily online. Many publicists have programs in place for beginning artists to help them grow from local to regional and eventually national coverage. Check out other artists that are one step further than you are currently and see who they are using. Trying to get attention from a major national publicist will not only be draining on your energy level but on your wallet as well, perhaps with little to show for it.
Additional material becomes crucial once noticed. An artist should strive on having an album's worth of material, as any label, agent, lawyer or promoter will want to make sure the artist has enough material to be successful. Having additional material ready to go can help someone powerful that is sitting on the fence make up their mind to move forward. Artists that think having five strong songs on an EP is enough may be shocked to find out no one will invest. They need to have a proven ability to continue writing, performing and perfecting their abilities. Once an artist releases their own CD, they should look into radio promotion the same way I suggest they look into publicity: very carefully and with both eyes open. This can become expensive fast and a money pit if not researched properly.
The artist's team can only be as strong, dedicated and focused as the artist himself. That is why it is key to understand the many ways an artist can present himself online, on record and in person in order to be successful. Once the foundation is laid, then the artist should concentrate on building the team, building a strong press kit that demonstrates the material and the press and buzz surrounding the artist, and start sending these kits out to industry contacts. Contacts can be located online, through MySpace, Allmusic.com and also through various published "phonebooks" of music industry contacts. All it takes is one person with influence to believe in your ability and spread the word. Getting noticed is the hardest part.
