INDIE CORNER :
Breaking in promotion
By : Lennox Murdock

- see previous articles here -
Breaking into the music industry
Breaking into the music industry pt2

A promotion is the name of this game. This is the most important part of getting an album out next to getting it recorded properly. Promotions is a major part that most independent artist skip or don’t do period, they just record an album and go straight to the street with it, this is the wrong way to go about putting out an album you should take the time to promote your album so you will get a good buzz going in your city so people will know about your album before they even see you. Promotions are merely getting a buzz on your album before it actually hits the streets and while it is on the streets. For an independent artist the initial buzz may seem hard to do with out radio slots and spins on your single but there are ways around this. Let’s discuss.

PROMOTIONAL ITEMS

Promotional items will be a big part of your promotional campaign. People love to receive free stuff so keep this in mind that you are getting ready to start promotions. Promotional items don’t have to be expensive there are plenty of things you can buy or make that won’t cost you much money at all, T-shirts, stickers, and free cd’s. There is one place in particular that I will direct you to for some nice but cheap stickers (go to bottom of article) Also, t-shirts are a good ideal although it will take a little money to print and to buy them it can be well worth it. T-shirts should mainly be given to females so they can wear them it is a well known fact that have women listening to something then guys will follow. Stickers should be given out at any time they can travel very far also unlike, posters they are hard to take down so they will probably stay where ever you put them for a while. Posters are good also you can out them on walls and in barbershops and record stores alike DISCKMAKERS has a special where you can get them for $99 if you get a full package I am not sure how many you get but I remember it is a good deal. Promo cd’s this is a good way to get your buzz going. You don’t have to get these replicated you can duplicate these your self and put them in a paper sleeve and put one or two of your hottest tracks on there and give these out at shows to cats with booming systems and to females once again I apply the female rule here.

RADIO PLAY OR NOT

Radio play is a serious thing for independent artist. Everyone feels that they should be played on the radio but, for many reasons they are not (refer to my article BREAKING INTO THE MUSIC INDUSTRY ). Commercial radio is hard and costly to get into does that mean that independents or diy’s can’t get on radio, no it doesn’t there is an alternative route here that you can take and it is called College Radio and now with modern technology there is Internet radio. I have already stated that radio is hard to break into if you don’t have the money or you don’t know anyone but, college radio is usually ran by students and they play a lot of Indie music.
Colleges have a diverse group of listeners right there bundled together so you get mind frames from all over the U.S. in one spot listing to one station. Internet radio is the latest greatest craze. Here is a medium where you can be heard all over the world by anyone so you could be in ALABAMA and people could here your music in AUSTRALIA. Best of all most of the time internet radio Dj’s will just play your music if they like it and put it in regular rotation. This is such a simple way and also fast way of getting radio play and when people ask,” Are you getting radio play ?" you can now answer yes and then give them the website.

GUERILLA MARKETING

Guerilla marketing or grassroots marketing as it is commonly called is one of the best forms of promotion. It allows people to see you and interact with you the artist instead of a lot of other people but you can have a team that you are not on. These people that you work with will be your street team which at this level I advise you be a part of. They will hand out your flyers, posters, promo cd, t-shirts, and any other paraphnelia you might have. They will put up posters in record stores and on poles they will be your eyes and ears to what the people like and what they want to see.

Promotions are your most important part of the day once your album is released. You want to create a buzz and make people want to get your product you are no different than a Wal-Mart or Mc Donald’s you have to advertise and make people want to buy your product. Free gifts, radio play, and guerilla marketing are all great ways to get you product out there and remember that marketing is really just common sense. So now get out there and get that buzz going.

**for more insight into marketing please read "How to make and sell your own recording by Diana Rapaport" also for a list of college radio stations e-mail me at rudebwoymuzik@yahoo.com and I will give you a list from Alabama to Wyoming. If you are an independent artist and want to be reviewed e-mail me so we can set that up, or if you need help putting together your own promotional tools then e-mail me at Kastawaymanagement@yahoo.com and I can give you an insight on my services which I believe my prices are very reasonable and I will tailor packages to your needs I do everything from street teams and radio campaigns to websites or just simple stuff such as getting together a mailing list. Go to stickerjunkie.com to get a good deal on stickers.

No profanity, or inaproppriate remarks.

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Breaking in promotion, by karen porter [2009-03-30 18:48:36]

Thank You this was very helpful, and basicly answered a lot of my questions

Breaking in promotion, by Kenneth Offei [2008-03-13 03:47:16]

Do you recommend any internet DJ’s in particular ?

Breaking in promotion, by RICARDO PRIESTLEY [2008-02-07 11:51:08]

My name is Ricardo Priestley, i would love to find many options, of launching my artist out in the music scene, look out for him, his name is Kayoz.CONTACT INFO 718-578-6857