1. Social Networking

Yeah, We are positive you’ve heard this before, but it’s not about where your music is at its about how hard your pushing it. Are you adding 100-150 friends a day? Did you know that most major record labels will ask you how many friends you have on MySpace, how many plays you have, and other questions about your social stats. I know for some it seems hard to believe that, but it is 200% true. The Labels want to make sure people like your music and that the band is marketable. Some social networks that would be good to promote your bands music on are MySpace, Facebook, Buzznet, Purevolume, YouTube, and many others. The good thing about social networks is that they are all free! How’s that for convenient when your scraping gas money to get to the next city and amaze more fans?

2. Give Away Free Stuff

What’s this guy talking about, free stuff? I can’t afford that…SELL SELL SELL. It is so powerful to give away free stuff and to partner with small companies. Let me give you an example: Kyle from the band Neverset called us right before a tour they were going on and asked to help them out by making some wristbands for them. They agreed to let us put our website on the back and their logo on the front of the wristbands. They did not sell these wristbands, they threw them out after every live show, and guess what you seen when you went to our website? A Neverset banner linking to their MySpace. That is just one example of something you could do.  It’s important that when your giving away free stuff that it is unique and has your website on it. This way people can get back to you, instead of thinking what was that cool band that came to town??

3. Get a Manager – Now we are talking big leagues… Not really. A manager comes in handy because while your making the music and working on your live performance your manager is making connections that will get your name out. They take care of the business aspect of your band, which really scares some small bands because they like total control. This is not a very good mindset because even if your band is small now, when you are big you will eventually get a manager. You might wonder, where do i find one of these….band..managers? It’s important to pick someone that is not only good at it, but someone you can talk and relate with as a band. There are different managers for different aspects of your band, however some do it all. You have management, press, and booking. Here is a great article to help you get started.

4. Get Your Band a Blog

Whether you know it or not you have a blog built into almost any social networking site that your band is on. However, if you want to really reach out i would go with something a little bit more professional like a free WordPress blog. The difference is profound when it comes to presentation. Your WordPress blog is like your bands homepage and your MySpace blog is like a homepage, within a homepage, within a homepage news. You should use both for the best results.

5. Make friends with other bands – This is what separates the boys from the men, the girls from the woman, and the chimps from the apes. You should be socializing at every event and setting up shows with other bands. You should want those fans to like your band as much as they like the band you set the show up with (what a mouth full). I’m not talking about stealing fans (yes i am) I am talking about getting your bands name out to everyone and their mom. I’ve known bands that are really egotistical, that’s not going to get you too far these days. Get out of your comfort zone and talk to everyone at your shows!

All in all its going to take a lot of work, but if your in for the ride, it is also going to be a lot of fun. If you have anything you want to add comment below! People are always looking for new ways to market their music.