Music Promotion
Word-of-Mouth Music Promotion for Professional Musicians
If you asked 100 people who play music for a living what their best means of music promotion is, more than 90% would say, "word of mouth" music promotion. And if you asked these musicians what "word of mouth" is, only a few could tell you. To some, it means that you just sit back, do nothing, and people will just naturally seek you out. That of course is ludicrous. Successful word-of-mouth music promotion needs constant attention on your part. It means consistent tweaking of ideas to getting your name out there, coming up with reasons for people to talk about you in a positive manner, and staying in touch with your own personal circle of influence.
First of all, word-of-mouth marketing starts with knowing your craft. Nothing gets the ball rolling more than playing really well, and knowing your instrument inside-out. With a band, it means having a tight group, with talent as good as it gets. You're only as good as your last performance, and a well-received playing job keeps that word-of-mouth music promotion going.
But not everyone can hear you play all the time. Not everyone knows of your successes and achievements. Not everyone knows where you are playing all the time. And that's where some coaxing is necessary to keep that positive spin going. The nice part of word-of-mouth music promotion is that it costs little or nothing. You don't have to spend big dollars on CDs, press kits, and promo packages. You just have to keep the right people talking about you.
Being a professional union musician means treating your career as a business. It means networking and keeping in touch constantly. It means letting everyone you come in contact with know that you are a professional musician. And it means creating a constant buzz to keep people talking about you. Creating that buzz through word of mouth music promotion is what helps to keep you working.
Creating a buzz isn't limited by the type of music you play. You could be a country group, hard rock or heavy metal band, a cocktail piano player, or symphonic string musician. The idea here is to tell everyone you come in contact with where you are playing. Let them know you're a musician. It could be your local dry cleaner, druggist, or a FedEx delivery person. Doesn't matter. If you come in contact with this person on a regular basis, say, "By the way, we're playing at the Whatever Club this week, come see us. We've been getting excellent reviews." And ask if they could mention it to their friends. Next thing you know they are telling their friends that "the musician who plays at the Whatever Club" is someone they know. They've heard the group "has been getting excellent reviews." They may have never heard you play, but they may spread the word to their friends. If you play with the local symphony, let everyone you come in contact with know as well. Don't just hand them a schedule, let them know what you play, and when the next concert will be. Create some PR on your own. If your band has won an award or you will perform at Carnegie Hall, let people know you're involved. Word spreads. Your phone could easily start ringing for freelance work because you're "the violinist who is playing with the symphony in Carnegie Hall." Starting your own buzz is word-of-mouth marketing.
If you treat your music career as a business, you probably have one or two sets of business cards. It could be as a soloist or as a group. An easy way to promote yourself through word-of-mouth is to staple your business card to every bill you pay by mail. A live person has to see your card, even if it is just to take it off and throw it away. Do this month after month, and I bet people will start talking about you down at the phone company, utility company, or department store credit office. ("Here's that guitar player again--hand me the staple puller.") At least they're talking about you.
Also, don't forget about local call-in radio shows, and the opinion page of your local paper. They're great venues for keeping your music promotion going. If you have a take on the local music that is even slightly controversial, it could play in your favor. Get yourself known as an expert in the area. People will talk about you. Getting your name out through word-of-mouth music promotion is easy, it's cheap, and it works if you're creative and continually working to keep it going. Remember this: people spread your buzz if it is simple to repeat, outrageous enough to get attention, and a success story to keep you in a positive light. How you come up with music promotion is up to you. Then you have to remember to fan the flames once in a while to keep it going. If you're a great musician word spreads fast. But it only spreads if you seed it yourself on a regular basis. That's what word-of-mouth music promotion is all about.
First You've Got to Get Their Attention
I remember when I first started out in the music business, I would do anything to get attention to book our band. If there was a club we really wanted to play at and couldn't get the owner's attention to book us or even call us back, we would call the club as customers, seeing if our group was playing there. After a few similar calls, I'd casually stop by the club a few days later and leave a card. Usually the owner or manager would say, "I think I've heard of you guys." Of course they'd heard of us; we were the ones making the calls.
Another little exercise was mailing a brochure on our group to whoever was looking for a band, in a plain envelope with no return address. On the brochure was a little note that read, "Hi Bill (or whoever was making the decision), you should hear these guys, they're fantastic!" Then we'd just sign the note with a generic first name like John or Bobeverybody has a friend named John or Bob. In any event, I guess when I was a lot younger, I would do any crazy thing I could to get someone to book my group.
If you're doing club dates or freelancing and people don't know about you, they won't hire you. But getting them just to know about you sometimes isn't enough. You need to get them to take action: listen to your CDs, look at your promo kit, maybe even check out your band at a current gig.
One booking agent jokingly said, "Maybe you could take off your clothes and run down Main Street naked. When they arrest you, you can tell the press your band's playing wherever, and you've got CDs available as well. At least you'll get noticed, and they might want to hear what you sound like."
Today, after being an AFM member for 40 years, playing out is not my main career. But I marvel at groups who have great moxie for getting work, and don't fear rejection. In fact, I like anybody who can come up with a great idea for getting noticed.
Personality skills, creativeness, and cleverness do pay off when you are trying to book a gig. I know someone who laminates their business card to a dollar bill when giving it out to a serious agent or club owner. That business card seldom gets thrown out. Most people don't take the time to get a razor blade and try to remove the dollar, but they also don't want to throw a dollar in the wastebasket. It hangs around forever.
If you're trying to get more wedding gigs or private parties, try stapling your business card to the check you write with every bill you pay by mail. A human being has to handle the check, and will probably use a staple-puller to remove the card. They have to read your card and see your name, even if it's just to throw it away. And when the conversation ever turns to the subject of needing a band, they might remember you or your group. Visibility is important and anything you can do without spending money is the key.
I know of a local band that sends out a letter with a Japanese Yen rubber-cemented to the top of the page. It reads, "We've got a Yen to play your next party." Yen coins cost next to nothing. And I bet the letter gets read.
How about this? Send your prospect a cassette tape (not a CD) in an envelope with the message: "This tape will self destruct in 10 seconds" printed on the outside of the envelope. Whoever opens the package will listen to the tape right away. And instead of the "Mission Impossible" theme, it's you and your group with info on how to book you.
You also might want to think about putting your group's picture on your business cards. People want to see what musicians look like. Full-color cards are relatively inexpensive today. Pictures make a strong impact.
You should have a mailing list of people who will come to hear your group wherever you are playing. But you also need a mailing list of people who might possibly book you as well. And you need to stay in touch with these people on a regular basis. It could be something as simple as a postcard letting them know where you're playing or a phone call in the middle of the afternoon when you're more apt to get an answering machine. Then you just leave the message, "Got good news for you. Please give me a call." Everybody likes good news. It could be that you have an open date, can supply a mailing list of 2,000 names of people that might come hear you, or have added something different to your play list.
You never know where the next creative idea for getting someone's attention is going to come from. It could be from a friend, a fellow musician, another band, or even a business down the street. Use a little ingenuity. When a gig you thought you had falls through the cracks, or club owners, agents, or anyone booking musicians start to look elsewhere, maybe there's a way to keep it from happening. Maybe it's just an issue of getting that person to hear you one more time. Maybe you need to get their attention starting with finding ways to get them to call you back.
If you depend on club dates and freelance gigs for an income, then it's a business. It takes more than just musical talent. You need to get your name out there, and you need to create attention for yourself. A little cleverness and creativity never hurt.
Bob Popyk is a member of Local 78 (Syracuse, NY) and Local 47 (Los Angeles). He is also a nationally known columnist and speaker on sales and marketing strategies.
