The importance of marketing

I know that you are all looking forward to reading about the last playlist on DTU, but tonight I would like to take a moment to discuss something that is extremely important to the music business: promotion and marketing.  In fact, they directly relate to the show in the sense that the radio is a great form of promotion and marketing for musicians. One would think that it is an obvious fact that these are important aspects of being a musician. In fact, it is just as important as creating quality music.

You can be the most talented musician in the world, but you will not go anywhere without your fans. If somebody does not plan on making music their career and is creating it for their own entertainment and pleasure, I can guarantee that at one point or another they will want to play their music for other people to hear. Even it is just their family and friends listening, they are still an audience, and through them it is very likely that they will gain even more fans. While social media has become vital for musicians to grow, word of mouth will never be dead.

Recently I have come across a band that has great talent and potential to make it in this business, but have a massive void of marketing and promotion. This is frustrating to me, because as a fan I want to know when and where they are playing in advanced, and not 15 minutes before the show starts. It is understandable that musicians, especially in college are busy, but part of being a musician is being able to market yourself or at least find somebody trustworthy to do it for you. I recently read an interview with Sarah Weiss, Head of Marketing at Bowery Presents that sparked my thoughts on this topic. In the interview she was asked the question of what bands should do when they are at the point in their careers that they have little to no radio and promotional support. This is what Weiss has to say--

"I think the easiest and simplest thing is to have a website and at least one social networking page. People are still going to Myspace for music, and it’s good to have information up there – or wherever you choose to house our information – including some tracks and some concert dates. And also, make sure whatever you have is as current as possible.

The other thing that’s really key is that if you have photos and bios you’ve put together for yourself, make sure you send them over to whoever put the show together for you, so the information for the show is current with what’s going on with your band. It’s only a few pieces, but the more correct and up-to-date the information is, the better it serves you, and the more you will attract the attention of someone who is really familiar with the venue and used to seeing good bands there. So they will go to the venue to see a band, even if they don’t know the band, because they know the venue typically has good shows. They’ll also look at the Myspace page and say, “I like the headlining band, but maybe I’ll get to that show early.”"

 Let this be a reminder to all of you musicians out there, you cannot just solely work on your music, say "Hey we are done! Here is our album." and expect thousands of people to listen to it. You must have marketing skills and promote yourselves, or at least create the right contacts to do these things for you.

And that is what people like me are here for.