when looking for a new music, do you prefer internet media, or direct contact?
By tokarus209
@tokarus209 (31)
United States
June 10, 2010 12:20am CST
Hello! I was wondering what approach you prefer when a band wants you to take that giant step in a new direction and listen to their music. a lot of bands including my own use myspace and other social networking sites to promote their new music, but as ive noticed a lot of people these days wont even give them a chance online.
I am about to start a direct marketing campaign for my band Etched in Stone where we hit the streets, introduce ourselves and give u a free burned copy of our cd, as we dont have the funds to have them professionally printed. on top of this we will be filming a few of our exploits and interactions with the unknowing masses and posting their comments on my blog, and our band website. but before we take this step, wed like to know. would you rather meet the band members and have them personally give you a demo or cd on the streets, or would you prefer to just happen to come across a new artist browsing a website?
2 responses
@megamatt (14291)
• United States
10 Jun 10
The Internet is a tool that is far too much underutilized by musicians and bands. People will not buy your work if they cannot sample it. After all, most people buy things that they like when regarding music. Therefore, if I do not know that you exist, how will I know that I like you. I have found a few new bands with music samples over the Internet.
Not every band is going to be important enough to merit time on the radio. Therefore, the Internet is a best place to discover new acts that I might not heard to. Its a very important tool for aspiring talents and it allows them to get their name out there. Therefore, the Internet is the most important tool out there to allow you to get out there. Its what I use to find and I doubt I am alone.
@tokarus209 (31)
• United States
10 Jun 10
i appreciate you opinion, but it is not the only way to get more listners. while we do promote our music online on my blog, on our myspace, and we even have our album on myspace music, itunes, napster and all of the other digital media sites.
we have about 4 thousand fans, and out of those, say only 500 actually have even looked at our page before accepting a friend request.
and out of that many only maybe 50 actually like our music, theres a 50 50 chance that theyll tell a friend and so on and so forth, but using the law of averages, its still not truly effective. if you knew much about marketing you might know that not everyone lives on their computers, and in most cases if you give people an opprotunity to listen and interact with the band even if its only for a quick thirty seconds they'd be more impressed with the actual effort the band or individual is putting out there, and be more likely to give them a chance and accept that free cd.
not every artist has the money to buy radio time, and these days so many artists are submitting to major labels its almost impossible to get a listen unless you have insider contact or get really lucky. but if you physically give anyone wiling to accept a free cd, and a good attitude you never know. they might pop the cd in their car, and love it, then their friends hear it while riding with them, or they tell them about it. they listen and so on and so forth.
what im talking about doing is before they even accept the cd, let them sample the music, and give them a chance to participate in out internet promotion as well by voicing their opinion on video. statistically the direct approach has worked much better than the internet approach. if no ones ever heard of you, how are they going to know to search for you online????? thanks for your input. i appreciate it
@_sketch_ (5742)
• United States
10 Jun 10
I'll check out any music. If I like what I hear, then I like it. I don't really care whether they're on a website or give me a flier, but if they talk to people, people are going to be more willing to give them a chance. If it's online, I think it's more effective if they post a comment or send a message than if they just send a friend request.
@tokarus209 (31)
• United States
10 Jun 10
good point, we as a band make sure to stay Very active wqhen we add a new potential fan, tho its a lost cause if youve got a million people trying to get you to add their band all of the time. a lot of people ive talked to actually automatically refuse requests from bands online, but would be more than happy to see them live, or have them give them a cd directly
