Throwback Thursday: Making a Stage Plot
Written by Mike Harmon.
Stage Plots and Input Lists make EVERYBODY happy.
If you’re an artist that has a gig coming up, you should provide the sound engineer with a stage plot and input list at least a day before you get to the venue. This will give the engineer important information about your band’s stage setup, instrumentation, and how they’ll organize inputs into the PA. If you don’t provide the sound engineer with a stage plot and input list beforehand, you may run into a few snags with equipment, stage layout, or even how the front-of-house mix will sound.
Throwback Thursday: There’s More to a Free Music Campaign than Free Music…
Written by Jem Bahaijoub
You’ve done it again. You’ve given away a free track from your latest album. It’s on your website. You’ve talked about it on Facebook. Job done, you think. Well think again.
There’s no doubt about it. Free music is a powerful marketing tool. However, the music industry has become so over-saturated with free music that we’ve become desensitized to the process of consuming, promoting, and thinking about the importance of free music. This age-old debate has become, well, old.
I was lucky enough to revitalize my thoughts on the topic recently when I met the artist Derrick N. Ashong who launched the “Million Downloads Campaign” earlier this year. The aim of the campaign is simple - To give away one million downloads of songs and remixes from the new album AFropolitan by Derrick N. Ashong & Soulfège by Christmas 2012. So far the campaign has been such a success that Derrick witnessed over 20,000 downloads in one month.
“How?” I hear you ask. Well, Derrick did something a lot of artists are forgetting to do - he planned, strategized and philosophized over the process beforehand. So take a step backwards, and consider the following….
Define Your Purpose
Before you even contemplate giving your music away for free, you need to define your goals. We know you want to increase your fan base and drive awareness to your latest musical offering, but you need to be MORE SPECIFIC. How many downloads would you like to achieve? By what date? If your fans know your goal and timeline they may be more willing to help you spread the word. Use your previous download statistics as a benchmark. You can also try something like “If I achieved 5,000 downloads by my 30th Birthday it would be the best b-day present ever!!” You’ll be surprised by how specifics motivate people.
Throwback Thursday: I the Mighty SXSW ‘12 Bus Session
Last year at the SXSW Festival in Austin, TX, we had the pleasure of hosting several phenomenal acts from across the country to perform on our Tour Bus. We coined the intimate, stripped down videos our SXSW ‘12 Bus Sessions.
For this week’s Throwback Thursday, we’d like to feature one of our favorite sessions from San Francisco based band I the Mighty. Check out their performance of “Cutting Room Floor,” and be sure to visit http://presskit.to/SXSW to tune-in to what we’re doing this year!!
Throwback Thursday: Navigating Radio Placement as an Independent Artist
Since the beginning of its era, radio has been the driving force of music discovery for most people. Whether a major label is pumping millions of dollars into a nationwide radio campaign for the next big hit or a college student is playing their friends’ band during their 1-hour radio show once a week, radio has become ingrained in the music industry’s business model. And even though radio doesn’t make or break an artist like it used to, there are still a number of people out there who don’t discover music on the internet, and rely solely on the radio stations they’re familiar with for new tunes.
In this article, we’ll be exploring the worlds of Internet and Terrestrial radio, looking into the characteristics of each, determining when it’s smart to submit your music for airplay, and how to prep the necessary materials to submit. Although there is no true test for how one’s music will get airplay on the radio, this article can serve as a simple guide to independent artists seeking some info on the medium.
Throwback Thurs: Capitalizing on a Branded Session
Written by Mike Harmon
Whether you’re an artist that has done a branded video session before, or are planning a session for the coming weeks, it’s important to know how to make the best out of your session. Several labels, studios, and other music brands are making use of live-in-studio videos with high quality audio to benefit both the brand and the artist, maximizing exposure for both. Some companies hosting session videos with bands include our friends Audio Tree, RAWsession, Sideshow Alley, TourStop, and even non-music related brands such as Converse Rubber Tracks and Mountain Dew’s Green Label Sound.
Oftentimes with these sessions, both parties win in the case of good promotion; Artists get additional exposure through a new network, and the brand benefits by having artists with a large fanbase attracted to their content. Here’s a list of a few promotional methods we’ve found work well when promoting your branded video sessions.
Showcase Unreleased Material
Playing an alternate live version, a deep cut, a b-side of your album, or an unreleased song is a great way to take advantage of your session. This offers your band the opportunity to showcase material that your audience might not see otherwise, or promote upcoming music before it is released. Hosting videos of this type in your Presskit is a great way to grant advance, private access to press outlets for early reviews of new material.
