Music Marketing for Dummies

Marketing in music is something I’ve always wanted to write about due to the fact that it seems to get a lot of bad press due to common misconceptions and differing extreme opinions on what is and is not acceptable behaviour to be classed as a musician.
A lot of the time, it seems to be that people associate marketing with selling out, conforming one or more aspects to fit a glove, in order to possibly feign or replace talent, all as an effort to increase popularity by seeking out attention.
It can be true in some cases, I will not lie, but I’m not here to judge or criticise, because I do feel that as an artist we all share uniqueness in our own way, and to knock someone for doing something they love is quite an injustice. It also makes you sound like a jealousy enraged gorilla.
Be thee Gorillas?
Nay, ye are but humankind.
The main aim of this essay is to clarify these misconceptions of marketing in music, to lessen the annual average number of gorilla behavioural incidents and to perhaps prompt some of the new kids on the block to effectively market their sound and perhaps grow their audience more effectively by helping people remember them.

Since the time of kings, queens and emperors, music like any form of art has been viewed as a tangible object of value as well as an intricate expression of one’s own emotions.
Never since the modern era has the idea jumped into the minds of laymen that the value of artistry diminishes with the marketable demand of a particular form of music. It was around this time that said laymen started using migraine inducing phrases like ‘real music’ to distinguish from the artistic and the marketable.
Such phrases that pretty much deserve a knuckle to the visage.

In an earlier article about the T.Rex album Electric Warrior, I talked about Marc Bolan’s bad press from a lot of extremist members of the underground psychedelic scene who bashed Bolan for “going pop”. I’ll not get sidetracked so you can find it all here.

One of the most fundamental traits of being human is the ability to question things and develop opinions on things. In some cases and disciplines understanding can be black or white, in art this is not the case. It is a vast grey area, where differing opinions are allowed and disagreeing is also allowed.
Take for example; I walk into a guitar shop with two completely fictitious people of which any likenesses to any person real or fictional, living, dead or undead is completely coincidental and I am not legally liable on behalf of any defamatory charges for the sake of this analogy; Leroy and Chad.
Firstly; Chad and I walk into the shop and both stare dewy eyed at a vintage 1960s Les Paul that has just caught our eye. Chad picks it up and plugs it directly into a Marshall half stack and starts wailing through the first few bars of Sweet Child of Mine. Because of this, a crowd of casual Guns n Roses fans gather around him to appreciate the sound Chad is providing, but in my mind I want to put some knuckle in his eye because he’s ruining a perfectly good guitar.
Leroy walks in and picking up the same instrument, starts plucking through the first few bars of Deep River blues. Because of this, 84% of the crowd who gathered around Chad have now dispersed and carried on with their daily lives, uninterested in the mastery of Leroy’s playing style. However, a smile is growing across my face as I am appreciating the tone of the instrument being used in the context it was originally designed for.

This boys and girls is how difference in opinion works.

Therefore there is no such thing as a definable ‘real’ form of music, regardless of tone, vocal style, genre, musical intricacy or technicality, simplicity or marketability when its very existence is open to taste and interpretation. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Ok, now that all that’s cleared up, I’ll get down to business.

How to market effectively as a band/artist

We are all a brand.
Right now, you are reading my blog, which is a specific journal of specific subject matters all brain-farted by the same person directed towards a particular group of people. As a person, you have your own preference of colour, clothes you wear and of music taste and what you play, how you write and your attitude are all part of your brand identity. You are a tangible object that your audience wants no matter what your value is; you are a friend, a brother, a sister, a musician, a teacher, a doctor, a confidant or whatever.
An understanding of this can help you to connect with your audience more; by focusing first and foremost on creating a sound and style that is an extension of who you are as a person, to the extent that you as a silhouette can be associated with your music, in the most identifiable, out there and Batman villain way possible; Musician 101 right there.

The next thing is to extend that person into an expression in as many different forms and media as possible, so that more and more people become aware.

Looking the way people want you to look is a load of absolute bollocks; look how you want to look. Being comfortable in what you are doing is most important and the right people will like you if you tick all of their appropriate boxes. If people don’t, someone else will most certainly come along if you hold out.

Wear what feels right. Even if it's Tartan trousers and a non existent shirt.

Anyone who tells you otherwise is eligible for a complimentary, official Study in Audiosynthesis knuckle to the visage signed sealed and delivered by me with free postage and packaging, usually dispatched within 3-4 working days.
Having said all that, it is nothing shaming to change or adapt to a new sound or style; we all change all through our lives, and the act of experimenting is in no way frowned upon by the non enraged gorilla proportion of society.
It’s just important to make sure you’re changing for the right reason; because you are naturally progressing to a different route like Electric Warrior Marc Bolan or the transition of Queen from the 70s glam to the 80s leather clad rock with the release of The Game; Not because a band member or a friend or an audience member or a manager said you have to.
It’s important to note that; I tried to be normal until the age of 13. It was hell y’all.
Never again.

In the early days of Queen, the band were much more Glam metal than Pop
with Freddie rocking the sequined leotard look.
He later dropped this for reasons unknown and swapped to Yellow leather.

One of the best assets a band can have is an effective use of the internet. The very existence of the internet can be either a hindrance or a help depending on how you manage it. Keeping fans or followers regularly updated can keep their interest stimulated and they get less of a window to forget you. Promo photos, Artwork, updates, tour logs and even free music on Facebook, Twitter or Soundcloud are good suggestions to keep fans updated. Especially free music. We all love free music. I love free music. If you have free music, email me your free music and I will totally check it out and review it.
Effectively, you will become less that person they saw play on Grafton Street once but can’t think of the name of and more that person they’ve been following and watch grow since they saw you play on Grafton Street and went to your gig in Captain America’s 2 weeks later and it was awesome because they got free music. Yowzah!

Passenger busking on Grafton Street.

This is also not a 100% necessity. People worked hard to build an audience back in the pre-internet era. This usually involved playing everywhere and anywhere and plastering things with posters. Using the internet is also not to be seen as a lazy way out; usually the time it saves is used to work on something else.
 The choice is yours which way you want to go; no one’s forcing you if you feel you’re not the most computer literate.

Networking is always a plus. Not just in the electronic sense but also in the physical social sense. If you endorse other bands or artists or make it your duty to go to their shows, they’re more inclined to return the favour.
The free music aspect also comes into play in this one if you know any DJ’s who want to expand their original material, don’t be afraid to allow the odd remixes so they can put their stamp on things. Any sane person will not knock you for experimenting in a different genre or music scene. It’s such a great form of collaboration that introduces your music to a different audience; if someone likes a remix, they’re more inclined to scout about for the original, and you could make new fans that previously wouldn’t have had much of an interest in the genre you identify most with.
Never make the mistake of openly criticising another band as it actually doesn’t damage their reputation at all in the slightest. It damages yours.

Heimdall the Watcher (Idris Elba) showing who the real
god of thunder is by laying sick ass beats.

Posters, promo photos and album art are another great way of marketing your sound. A lot of the time, people don’t just associate a sound with a sound; they associate it with an experience, a memory and often different senses such as visual or smell. If someone invited me to a Jazz gig, I can guarantee I’ll be able to picture Thelonius Monk and Louis Armstrong and smell tequila and cigars in a frenzy of excitement before I even hear the first trumpet.
A company who are world renowned for their production of album art is Hipgnosis. I really need to do a write-up on them because they’re absolutely phenomenal. All of their work can be found here, which I’d really recommend checking out; they have a knack for bringing in that visual association with their individual clients repertoire. Their work for David Bowie changes theme with each album but yet they reflect a part of Bowie in each of them; the very same with their work for Biffy Clyro or Pink Floyd and countless others.

Arguably one of the most Iconic album covers of all time, designed by Hipgnosis for
Pink Floyd's Dark Side of The Moon.

Someone who takes colour association to a whole new level is Jack White. In the beginning of his career, Jack associated candy swirls with the childish, laid back theme of The White stripes’ Garage rock sound on songs like Astro. This evolved to him using a candy swirl pattern on Meg’s drum kit and both musicians rigidly sticking to bright striking red white and black clothes on stage and album art. The colour theme then changes with each act he does; The Raconteurs adopted less rigid earthy tones with Jack using a copper guitar, The Dead weather later branched off into 50s inspired German expressionism with stark contrasting black and white, and since Blunderbuss Jack’s solo band have adopted very cold colours such as blue, grey and black with the music videos having a very blue or grey filter. None of this is coincidental; it is all planned down to the finest detail so that the visualisation of the sound sticks with the audience.

The candy red and white colour scheme of The White Stripes 

The candy red and white colour scheme of The White Stripes

Gigs are fundamentally the best way of marketing your sound to an audience; by actually letting them hear it. In retrospect, this should have been the first thing I mentioned, but it should be common knowledge at this point.
However, the reason I left it ‘til last is because in today’s world a vast amount of venues will try very hard to not have to pay you to play music, which people try to combat by getting a manager, and usually that’s not the best idea financially.
There are ways of building a scene without having to deal with a venue that will pay you nothing to play Thin Lizzy songs all night for Alan and Dave.
One thing that seems to work best for smaller, acoustic bands or singer songwriters, and is growing in popularity in the UK and Europe are living room gigs. Effectively, a musician will network with others from a scene or artistic background, college classes, a circle of acquaintances, friends of friends or faraway neighbours and play an intimate gig in front of a small number of guests.
These gigs are not always generously paying, but some enjoy having a sofa to lie on or their travel expenses paid, before moving on to the next living room, soaking in the atmosphere and characters and growing as both a performer and a storyteller.
It’s a lifestyle that is reminiscent of Inside Llewyn Davis or an indoor version of busking and is a great way to test the waters before gigging in more prestigious Open Mic nights or Intimate Café gigs. Once you have a loyal audience, filling out your gigs will not be an impossible prospect.

Kurt Cobain in the Early days of Nirvana

For bigger more electronic artists or bands playing house parties or garage gigs are also clever ideas. Unknown to many, this is what Nirvana did first in the Seattle grunge scene of the late 1980s where they got to know the members of Soundgarden and Buzz Osbourne and Dale Crover of The Melvins. Despite the members of Nirvana being from Aberdeen, it allowed them to perform to a group of like minded alternative punks from the surrounding suburban area of Seattle and break into the scene which ultimately made them their fame.

A way of testing your popularity with your audience, or even if bigger bands want to increase a lot of public popularity; randomly playing unannounced free gigs in the most absurd of places Similar to how a flash mob works. Places can be such unassuming, non traditional places as pubs, venues, guitar centres, church halls, college radio stations or random public areas.
This has been adopted by many Punk and noise rock bands from the UK and USA, an example of which is Biffy Clyro, who are known for playing obscure sets at Blackburn College and outside the steps of Hull University. 

This allows them to connect more with an intimate audience of dedicated fans based in the particular location without a large amount of people finding out and mobbing the area.
Commonly referred to as Guerilla gigs, increased popularity of online forums and social-networking sites has made it possible for bands to immediately disseminate news of a gig to thousands of people often only a few hours before a performance. This allows them to advertise at minimal cost, and by bypassing the traditional print and radio-based methods of publicising concerts.

It’s all a matter of playing your cards right really. It’s all what you make it to be.

And with 2,590 words I’m done.