There are a lot of factors to consider when planning for your new CD release: the scope of your music marketing campaign, your budget, the number of shows you’ll play, how far you are going to travel, etc. The next steps involve music promotion, and making sure you have a great story to tell. Your story will help with your markting plan to get the press to write about you and your new CD.
It’s not enough to let the CD release be the story. The competition for review space and airplay is just overwhelming. So when you’re working on how to promote your music and subsequent live dates, write a list of at least five interesting things about you, your group, or your CD that tell a unique story, then create a press release about each point of interest.
Perhaps there is a theme running throughout the songs you write or record; maybe you and your band mates started playing together in elementary school; perhaps there is a song on the CD that was written for a specific purpose or cause; maybe you overcame great challenges in your life and now turned to writing about them; perhaps you perform to a unique niche audience and that is of interest; maybe someone associated with the CD is well-known person and your association with them might make a unique story.
Dig deep, look for something the press might find will interest their readers and prompt them to interview you, as well as review the CD. Give the radio DJs something unique to talk about while cueing up a track.
Once they get to the music, hopefully it will speak for itself and entice the writer or DJ to promote it, but you have to compel them to open the CD and listen to it, and a press release with a great story is your key to reviews and airplay.
Even if you decide to work with a publicist or a radio promotions company, you need to give them a great story to help promote you and have success with the campaign.
If you are not releasing a new CD, but are selling an older album, this exercise will help you open the new markets where you want to play. This exercise will change the scope of your campaign and all of your marketing if you do this each time you have a new project or tour or release, and is a good exercise to do to help you craft a story for any and all of your promotional efforts.
Jeri Goldstein is president and founder of Performingbiz. Formerly an agent and manager, Jeri is a dedicated author and music business consultant providing resources, instruction, and consulting services to music artists to help them create a successful touring career. Her award-winning book, How To Be Your Own Booking Agent, THE Musician’s & Performing Artist’s Guide To Successful Touring, is used by performers worldwide and by music business courses in the USA and Canada.
This post was excerpted from Jeri’s second book, The Tiny Guide To Huge Success 100 Biz Boosting Hot Tips to Ignite Your Performing Career. Echoes readers get a special $5 discount off the book by using the discount code WJ2JJ53Q in the space provided on the order form. Get your copy today!
Music businessman image provided by ShutterStock.com.
More posts about music promotion and press kits:
Press Kit Posts: Advice on Press Releases, Band Bios, Publicity, and More (June 2012)
Indie Music Marketing Strategies (April 2012)
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Nice article with some great advice, Jeri. Thanks for sharing!
May I add: Keep it short! DJ’s and promoters don’t have time to read a long bio. Include the important information up front. Band members/instruments, and where you call your hometown. You can’t believe how many artists I have to dig for the simplest of information like where they are located! “U.K.” or “Florida” isn’t good enough. “London, England” or “Pensacola, Florida” is much better. And, include that information everywhere (your bio, your Facebook bio, and MySpace page). Also, don’t forget to include the album a song is from if you are promoting a single. If the song is simply a single, please write that.
By the way, I’ve noticed a lot of bands have dropped their MySpace pages or never maintain them anymore. Big mistake! MySpace is still very popular in Europe. Artists are cutting themselves short by not promoting in as many places as possible.
Kind of like this: http://www.jackchicago.com/biography