MUSIC PROMOTION IS DEAD (as you know it)
I think we can all agree that a massive change has happened in the world of music over the years. No longer are corporate labels sending out their scouts to find a band to bring them back for the milking. No longer does an artist need a label to open the door to the people, to sell records or book shows; because we have now fully come into the new social media revolution, and we have reached an exciting new age in the music industry. This is the age of DIY (Do it yourself, for those not hip to the term).
DIY has been grossly overlooked by the average independent musician, and for good reason; Music PR companies do not want you to fully embrace this concept, as it undermines their goal to sell you on the things you can learn to do yourself. Sure, they hint at your potential, they post clever articles (like this one), meant to open your eyes to the ways that you can promote your own music; but they never say so much that you feel free from needing their services somewhere in the future; and I should know, I have been running one of the fastest growing Music PR companies around, and as much as I wanted to just blow the doors of the music industry wide open, release all the industry secrets to the artists, and help them to my fullest potential, that was simply not good for business; I mean, it wouldn’t do the music PR business model any favors by teaching musicians to promote themselves, right?
Well, now that’s exactly what I am going to do!
I want indie musicians to know that we are all just humans who learned to say hello and shake hands with other humans. This act, if repeated, eventually becomes our “Contact List”, and when that list reaches an impressive number, we start accepting artist submissions, and then charge those artists for our efforts. This is fine, since this is, at the core, how business is done on many fields. The problem I was having was that I knew that ANY musician could start shaking hands and building their own Contact Lists, it was clear that any serious-minded musician with the DIY mentality could learn to open these doors for themselves; and in the end, isn’t that the better way to help the artists?
The incredible amount of data-collection through social-media, combined with the growing audience and user-base of the internet, has made the reality of reaching almost anyone in the world through your computer, a real possibility; and it is an awesome, brave new world, for those willing to dive in with both feet!
I understand the negative response to the idea of data-collection, but if we remove our tin-foil caps for a moment, and we stop believing that the government cares about what we had for breakfast, then we can be more open to the idea that our information has been used to create algorithms that map out successful results; for both companies and artists.
You don’t need to know exactly what or how an algorithm works, but just know that because of years of data-collection, an artist now has the power to choose the size of the audience that they wish to show their music to, and they get to make sure that the audience is the specific group that would listen to their style of music!
Facebook Ads. I have seen first-hand how they can produce exciting results when approached with an aware mind. Yes, to truly maximize the power of Facebook, or any social media ad-service, you will need to read a bit on how best to use them, but that should be welcome research for the musician who wants to successfully share their music and command their own online presence.
Still unsure of what I am saying? Let me ask you, are you still considering paying for Music Promotion? Maybe?
Alright, let me break it down a little more for you then.
You pay for Music Promotion. The campaign runs you over $2000, and you get a lot of great press in a variety of magazines and blogs, and you will, because it’s Guaranteed; Awesome, right!
Or…
You can pay for a Facebook Ad that will run you $12-$100 to directly send your music to an audience that enjoys your specific genre of sound. Even better, you get to see exactly how many people you will be reaching out to. It’s like you have a marketing agency in your pocket!
I don’t know about you, but paying $1900 less to get some incredible results, with minimal effort, is a far more exciting option!
What else could you do with your $1900? Fund a mini tour, create Merchandise to sell at your shows, run an Instagram Ad, run another Facebook Ad, grease some industry palms to open doors, take our revolutionary new Music Promotion Mentorship Program and learn to command your own music promotion yourself, and still have money left in the ole piggy-bank!
There are questions that need to be asked if you are going to take control of your music career, or any career online for that matter. Why Spotify? Why Instagram? Why Facebook? Who are the social media influencers? Where should I be allocating the band funds? How do I create my own mini-tour?
The other question you have been trained to ask is, What Music Promotion Company should I work with?
And that question will leave you with another question; Where are all my album sales?
I will extend an olive-branch of peace to all Music PR companies, since I too was once part of the collective. It was nice working with you all, and with all the great journalists to get the press created and published. It was exciting to share all these creative pieces with our very talented clients, and I am thankful for all the support that Empire Music Promotions received. Being known as the “Music Promoter with an honest, pull-no-punches, style”, is the best compliment I could receive.
But, I must move on now, because the artists need something more than an old business model that doesn’t respect the full scope of the new DIY Music Promotional Industry Revolution.
It is time to teach the artists what sort of power they possess to control their own music promotion and music careers.
No longer are the monolithic labels sending out their scouts to find you playing at a local club, no, they are sitting back and watching your social media presence. Reach a high enough number, post enough killer content, and prove that you understand the power of branding; and you will have them knocking at your door.
Music Promotion might be dead as we all know it, but it has given life to a brand-new era of promotion, and in this space, all artists are the captains of their own ships!
Why pay for music promotion when you can learn to promote yourself?
Talk with us at Empire Music Promotions (www.empiremusicpromotions.com) about our revolutionary new Music Promotion Mentorship Program!
Take the power back and join the New Empire Today! CONTACT US NOW!
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