How important is touring and gigging to getting your band noticed? Apart from Radio airplay it’s probably the most effective thing you can do to get your band recognized by a mass group of people. Mass groups of people means mass amounts of money. Word of mouth about your music in conjunction with a solid live presentation is a powerful thing, and popularity is a contagious thing among teenagers.
But for new bands, artists, the music business will probably not be very lucrative venture at first. It’s so true that you have to start somewhere, and you must prove yourself on a smaller scale before you can do it on a much larger one. It can also be said that before you conquer the world, you must first conquer a city or locale first. Every big band has their stomping ground. Bands like Pearl Jam, Dave Mathews Band, Tool, Green Day, Metallica had to start somewhere before they started selling out arenas. It can take years to develop a serious draw potential regionally, and you may have to swallow your pride along the way. Getting a record deal usually means years of selling CD’s out of the trunk of your car, giving away free CD”s, getting puked on, sleeping in cars, and proving yourself each weekend by bending over backwards for a lot of folks in the industry. Eventually hard work and persistence pays off. One day, you’ll get to a place where your buzz factor feels like a runaway train. A slam dunk live show is like pouring gasoline on the fire. A huge draw always leads to bigger and better things, and it’s your most important bargaining chip you will have. Below are just a few things you can do to get things moving in the right direction. .
-Deliver a solid live presentation (5-10 times a month)
-Release an industry standard CD.
-Always have CD’s for sale at the merch table.
-Start assembling a street team to get the word out about your band.
-Start networking with other regional bands to play shows together. The bigger the band the bigger the contact.
-Start making good impressions on local bookers, and club owners, and regional booking agencies.
-Build your solid reputation one venue, one show, one fan at a time.
-Begin building your serious draw and buzz factor round your music.
-Submit your CD to all the popular local and college radio stations. Garage Band format may be the best you can hope for unless you know someone on the inside.
-Do all of the above consistently for one year.
By: Cyrus Rhodes
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