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Guerrilla Music
Marketing Suggestions
by Christopher Knab - Fourfront
Media & Music - April
2003
Back to The Academy
Make Fans a Birthday Card!
Remember your fan's birthdays by creating a musical birthday card you create yourself. Email them the card that
is imbedded with an mp3 file of a birthday song you wrote.
Use old school psychology, (if you can afford it) send a real birthday card to each fan that has a simple chip
attached to it with a sound file that begins to play when you open the card. (the technology is now available,
such cards are now in many retail stores).
You will obviously have to have your database setup to include a place for your fans to give you their birth dates,
but after that, at the beginning of every month simply sort out who has a birthday coming up and mail them off.
Be sure to do this at least a week before the beginning of each month.
Think of how appreciative your fans will be for having been thought of, and as your career and goes on and gets
more established, your past musical birthday cards will become valuable collector items.
A Sticky Way To Be Remembered
Print up promotional "sticky notes" using the Post-It note method for upcoming gigs and send or pass
them out to music fans attending live shows. Have your latest shows printed up on them, so fans can use them as
reminders to attend your shows and can put them up on their home bulletin boards or refrigerators. You can also
use this idea for reminders to buy your latest CD or merchandise you have for sale at your website or live shows.
Be The Musical Entertainment
For Your Favorite Local Record Store
Work with a local record store that carries your genre of music and ask them about participating in a special "after
hours" party and special sale where you get to be the band or artist to supply the music for the event. Have
them put your CD on sale at a special price during the party only. Take time to sign autographs, and get the customers
to sign up on your mailing/database list. The store can add whatever added incentives they want to make the event
a special sale and you get to go along for the ride.
Talking House ®
Brings Your Music To Unique Places
A company called Talking House ® has invented a unique 'broadcasting' tool It was first used by real estate
people to transmit descriptions of a house that is for sale. It works like this; a small radio transmitter sits
inside a location (such as a local business in your area). Prospects just tune in on their ordinary car radio,
while parked out front, and hear a customized broadcast, in this case…your music…while they are nearby.
Talking House ® can be used by restaurants, bars, taverns nightclubs, music and record stores, independent
fast food restaurants...whatever. You name it, Talking House ® can broadcast it.
For more infgormation, call 800-444-8255, fax 920-923-6222 or visit the Web site at http://www.TalkingHouse.com.
Free Domain Name Registration Site
There is an advertiser supported web site offering free registration of domain names. You can inquire about being
an advertiser yourself and put up an ad for your CD this way. The web address is www.register.com.
Pass the word around to fellow bands/artists and fans that need to register their domain names and they will see
an ad for your music when they visit the site.
Use Your Business Card
To Promote Your Favorite Lyrics
On the front cover of a folded card, place a catchy lyric from one of your songs. Inside, or some place other than
where your traditional contact information is printed, briefly list information about your CD and other merchandise
you have for sale, and where people can buy your releases. (internet, live shows, mail order)
On the back get creative and list other interesting facts about yourself or your music than fans and industry people
might appreciate knowing about.
IMEDIAFAX is right on target
Here is a unique way to fax your promotional messages and press releases to the media. Users create a proprietary
media list from a selection of magazines, newspapers, syndicates, and broadcast stations. The service, called IMEDIAFAX
-- Internet to Media Fax on-line custom news distribution service, can be found at www.imediafax.com.
Here's how it works: You make your selection by clicking your mouse on the industry and classification, key editors,
states, market area, or circulation. Then enter your news release and click to send. IMEDIAFAX news releases can
contain graphics, letterheads, logos or pictures. The cost is 25 cents per faxed page….A bonus is that there are
no international phone or fax charges.
Become a Music Marketing Matchmaker
Maintain a supply of local music related businesses business cards and distribute them to musicians and music lovers
you know. Using return address labels, create a sticker that says " referred by (your name or band name here)"
Placed on the back of other people's business cards, the stickers reminds the person who you are, and you get great
word of mouth name recognition over time, and you've helped a local music related business get some customers,
as well as helped your music fans learn about where to get the best local help for the their music needs.
The customer is reminded of a cool business, and your name is the first one the prospect hears. ("So and so
recommended that I talk to you")
Turn Your Fans Onto Other Cool Music
On your website, (you DO have your own website don't you?) create a section where you and your fellow musicians
regularly recommend other local bands and great music that you think your fans would enjoy.
The benefit of this is that you are not seen as strictly a selfish musician obsessed with promoting your own music.
Your fans will benefit and thank you over time for all the cool music you have turned them onto.
On a professional level, as you recommend other bands and acts, they will get the word from others that you have
recommended their music. Can't hurt when it comes to finding other artists to perform live with at various gigs.
Fax Reminders For Your Live Shows and Events
When you create your sign-up sheets for mailing lists be sure to include a place for people to write in their fax
machines numbers. Everyone is pretty hip to email these days but the good 'ol fax machine is now in 70% of homes
across the country.
A few days before each gig, after you have emailed your fans about an upcoming show, send some faxes out to your
fans, it is a much more direct way to remind someone of a gig coming up.
Flower and Candy Power
When you get an important gig, or get somesubstantial radio airplay, think about saying thank you the old fashioned
way….with flowers. I can only remember a handful of times over the decades of being in the music business when
I was thanked with flowers or candy for having done a favor to help a musician.
Believe me, sometimes the corniest ideas are the best ideas. People like getting thanked in this business, and
no one would be upset getting a bouquet of flowers or a box of delicious candies….you will be remembered for your
kindness and your consideration!
Credibility for Small Record Labels
Almost every new and small record label struggles to gain credibility and recognition. So, use a 'Suite' address,
and not a P.O. Box, or an apartment number when you create your business cards, and letterhead stationary, as well
as your envelopes.
Also, list your title as Promotion Manager, Sales Director, Publicist or something of a similar level, rather than
more imposing titles like President, Chairman or CEO titles.
Put Your Fans To Work: Street Teams
Street Teams are the way to go when you don't have a lot of money or time to promote your music. They can be recruited
to write articles and reviews about your releases and live shows, and they can be used effectively to get the word
out on the street. With your supervision, let them write up press releases, design posters, and get them put up
around your city of town. Thank them with free CDs, merchandise, and tickets to your upcoming shows. They will
be happy to help you, and feel a real sense of pride in having helped spread the word about your muscic.
Be sure to make all submissions your property if used and gain all appropriate publishing rights.
Fishing for Leads
In addition to providing a simple sign-up sheet for your mailing list that you can have available at all your live
shows, consider buying a fishbowl. You know, those road bowls you have seen on the counter of restaurants, where
people can drop in their business cards. Do the same at your live shows….Write up a nice sign that mentions you
will do a drawing each night for a winner to get your latest CD, if they would drop their business card into the
bowl for you.
Hotel and Motel Promotions
Remembering your image, and who your fan is, research hotels and motels in the areas that you are going to be touring
and arrange with the appropriate lodgings to have free copies of your CD put on the pillow of the guests who are
staying there. This is especially important to do when you are going to any of the many music industry conferences
and seminars that are held around the country.
This is a great idea because it costs the hotels and motels nothing, and depending on your budget, you have just
exposed your music to potentially hundreds of music lovers.
Create a Links Page On Your Website
Create a part of your website that has links on it for other interesting music related websites. Plug it in your
fan newsletter and in your promotional materials. Ask your fans to recommend their favorite music websites, and
create an exchange of ideas with your fans. Perhaps give a free CD to the best link suggestion of the month.
Give Your CDs Away At Your Live Shows…..But…
I am a big fan of selling CDs at live shows, but for those of you just starting out, and doing your first gigs,
perhaps the way to go is to announce from the stage that you are giving away free CDs to the first 25 people that
sign-up on your mailing list. That way you get the fan's name and contact information, and they get some free music
of yours to listen to, and hopefully tell their friends about.
Partner With Your Local Record Store
Contact a favorite local independent record store, and ask them to donate a few gift certificates. Tell them that
in exchange, at concerts you will promote their store as a supporter of local music and even pass out circulars
for the store at your live shows. On the back of the gift certificate include your own offer for a buck or two
off your CD. This works, I know…I use to own a independent record store and I loved doing this type of local promotion
with favorite acts because it got new customers into my store, and it got the band another fan. We were both winners.
School Promotions
Contact local high schools and colleges and donate copies of your CD to the school libraries. If your schools have
music programs, donate copies to them as well to be given away to the students.
(Musicians worry too much about making money from every promotional opportunity they think of. My idea is that
just like those supermarkets that give-a-way free samples of crackers and cheese and sandwiches, you have to give
away your music at first so people can hear what you sound like. After you create a fanbase, then you've got 'em
hooked and they will be more willing to buy future releases, merchandise, and tickets to your shows.)
Promote Your Music
Around Special Holidays and Events
Get a copy of Chase's Calendar of Events (buy the book by email: Bookserve@aol.com) to discover
all sorts of holidays and "awareness weeks" that apply to almost any business. The idea is to scan the
list and see how many of these events you might be able to use for a charitable gig, a networking opportunity,
or sources for paid performances and promotional parties.
A New Spin On College
and Non Commercial Radio Promotions
On the left hand side of the dial from 88.1 FM to 91.9 FM you will find a lot of college radio stations, and other
non-commercial broadcasters. Check them out. Most of them have dozens of specialty music shows and certainly a
few of those will be playing your style and genre of music. Instead of just begging them for airplay, approach
a specialty show host and tell him or her that you want to promote their show on your website and other promotional
materials. Tell them how much you enjoy their show, and give them a copy of your music, but without any pressure
to play it…let that happen organically. As they get more listeners and feedback on how people heard about their
show, you get some of the credit, and have begun a real relationship with the show and the station.
Also, don't be afraid to ask if they are a listener supported station. When I was the station manager of a college
radio station in Seattle, during our pledge drives we had many artists and bands donating a percentage of their
live show performance fees to the station. Why? Because smart musicians realize the value of supporting their local
non-commercial stations.
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Christopher Knab is an independent music business consultant based in Seattle, Washington. He
is available for private consultations on promoting and marketing independent music, and can be reached by email at: chris@chrisknab.net
Chris Knab's new book, 'Music Is Your Business'
is available NOW from the Music Biz Academy bookstore.
Visit the FourFront Media and
Music website for more information on the business of music from
Christopher Knab. |
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