Trent Reznor shares his thoughts on what to do as a new artist

I read this today and thought it important to share with the community.  The thoughts on what to do as a new / unknown artist from a leader in revolutionizing the artist-fan relationship:

Originally posted on Trent Reznor’s NIN Blog.

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I posted a message on Twitter yesterday stating I thought The Beastie Boys and TopSpin Media “got it right” regarding how to sell music in this day and age. Here’s a link to their store:

illcommunication.beastieboys.com

Shortly thereafter, I got some responses from people stating the usual “yeah, if you’re an established artist – what if you’re just trying to get heard?” argument. In an interview I did recently this topic came up and I’ll reiterate what I said here.

If you are an unknown / lesser-known artist trying to get noticed / established:

* Establish your goals. What are you trying to do / accomplish? If you are looking for mainstream super-success (think Lady GaGa, Coldplay, U2, Justin Timberlake) – your best bet in my opinion is to look at major labels and prepare to share all revenue streams / creative control / music ownership. To reach that kind of critical mass these days your need old-school marketing muscle and that only comes from major labels. Good luck with that one.

If you’re forging your own path, read on.

* Forget thinking you are going to make any real money from record sales. Make your record cheaply (but great) and GIVE IT AWAY. As an artist you want as many people as possible to hear your work. Word of mouth is the only true marketing that matters.
To clarify:
Parter with a TopSpin or similar or build your own website, but what you NEED to do is this – give your music away as high-quality DRM-free MP3s. Collect people’s email info in exchange (which means having the infrastructure to do so) and start building your database of potential customers. Then, offer a variety of premium packages for sale and make them limited editions / scarce goods. Base the price and amount available on what you think you can sell. Make the packages special – make them by hand, sign them, make them unique, make them something YOU would want to have as a fan. Make a premium download available that includes high-resolution versions (for sale at a reasonable price) and include the download as something immediately available with any physical purchase. Sell T-shirts. Sell buttons, posters… whatever.

Don’t have a TopSpin as a partner? Use Amazon for your transactions and fulfillment. www.amazon.com

Use TuneCore to get your music everywhere. www.tunecore.com

Have a realistic idea of what you can expect to make from these and budget your recording appropriately.
The point is this: music IS free whether you want to believe that or not. Every piece of music you can think of is available free right now a click away. This is a fact – it sucks as the musician BUT THAT’S THE WAY IT IS (for now). So… have the public get what they want FROM YOU instead of a torrent site and garner good will in the process (plus build your database).

The Beastie Boys’ site offers everything you could possibly want in the formats you would want it in – available right from them, right now. The prices they are charging are more than you should be charging – they are established and you are not. Think this through.

The database you are amassing should not be abused, but used to inform people that are interested in what you do when you have something going on – like a few shows, or a tour, or a new record, or a webcast, etc.
Have your MySpace page, but get a site outside MySpace – it’s dying and reads as cheap / generic. Remove all Flash from your website. Remove all stupid intros and load-times. MAKE IT SIMPLE TO NAVIGATE AND EASY TO FIND AND HEAR MUSIC (but don’t autoplay). Constantly update your site with content – pictures, blogs, whatever. Give people a reason to return to your site all the time. Put up a bulletin board and start a community. Engage your fans (with caution!) Make cheap videos. Film yourself talking. Play shows. Make interesting things. Get a Twitter account. Be interesting. Be real. Submit your music to blogs that may be interested. NEVER CHASE TRENDS. Utilize the multitude of tools available to you for very little cost of any – Flickr / YouTube / Vimeo / SoundCloud / Twitter etc.

If you don’t know anything about new media or how people communicate these days, none of this will work. The role of an independent musician these days requires a mastery of first hand use of these tools. If you don’t get it – find someone who does to do this for you. If you are waiting around for the phone to ring or that A & R guy to show up at your gig – good luck, you’re going to be waiting a while.

Hope this helps, and I’ll scour responses for intelligent comments I can respond to.

TR

Featured Artist – Adams Dagger

As promised, we’re going to start featuring independent artists that are out there hustling for themselves! There ARE success stories and I want to share them. We can learn from one another..so let’s share information!

First up, Adams Dagger. They recently toured the entire US from southern California to NYC and back. Self booked, no agent, and actually came home with money in hand! I hit up the band’s drummer, Mick, and asked him to share some insight as to how they turned this tour into an indie success!  Here’s the story…

Mick, Adams Dagger did something most signed bands can’t do – come home from a national tour with money in your pocket! Let’s focus on how you did that. First, how long was the tour?

The tour was 20 days. We played 16 shows during that time.

Before leaving, did you budget tour expenses like hotels, per diems, and gas? If so, what exactly did you include in your budget?

The only thing initially budgeted was gas expenses. I knew that from the guarantees we had we would “almost” cover gas for the entire tour. There were no per diems. The first time out was every man for himself. We weren’t planning on staying in hotels much at all, just sleeping in the van mostly or staying with friends or family. … Continue Reading

Should beginning bands give music away for free?

Yes.  Here’s the scenario…

Antonio’s band is just getting off the ground in the Boston, MA area.  They’re about half way finished recording their debut album and are starting to play out around the area.  There seems to be a bit of a debate on whether or not to give some of the music away for free.  One side of the argument is…hey, after all the time, energy, and money we put into recording this it makes no sense to give it away…the other side is, let’s focus long term, give tracks away, and encourage word of mouth with hopes to find more fans.

If you’re an independent band, with no label support, just getting off the ground…you absolutely need to give some of your music away for free..and not the left overs..you need to share the best songs you have!  If you don’t…how are people going to hear your music?  Naturally gravitate towards your myspace page?  Doubt it.

Here’s my advice…make everything you have available for purchase.  Get your tracks on iTunes (and everywhere else), link your sites to it, and let people know they’re available for purchase if you’d like to support the band.  You’ll be surprised how many will purchase to support.  Your current FANS will support, but the new one’s wont..they’re not yet convinced and are testing your water.  You need to convince them with your music.  Give it to them, let them live with it, enjoy it, and guess what…if your songs are good enough…they’ll react!  And if they react, they’ll buy the other songs and maybe even a t-shirt and ticket to the next show…that’s what you want.

And really?  Is $0.99/track really going to make any difference in your career right now?!  No…be real.  It’s not..If you’re working for $0.99 then you’re way too short sighted and wont make it…besides..just a reminder..you’re doing this for the love of music, remember?  And there’s nothing better than sharing your music with new people, right?!  Share your music now, think long term, and the money will come…LATER.  Don’t bottleneck yourself this early.

So what’s the best way to give your music away?  I’m a fan of getting a little something for the free track.  I’ve started working with loudbytes: loudbytes.com.  You can get 1000 band cards for next to nothing that have your artwork on the front and a download code on the back.  Hand them out at shows and to the people you know.  When they go to loudbytes to download your track, loudbytes grabs their e-mail address and sends it back to you.  That’s cool.  Now you can hit everyone up who checked out your tunes and personally invite them to your next show.  These guys can attach your music via download codes to cards, button, hangtags for t-shirts, stickers…whatever.  I’ve even started using them to cut out the cost of CDs.  I put music on hang tags now.  So rather than sell a shirt for $10…I sell it for $15 and you get the album as a digital download for “free”…now you’re thinking like a business..cutting cost of goods sold.

So yes…give it away in one form or another…your fans will appreciate it and like I said…if the music is good enough people will react.

Ben

Promote Your Music

First off, I know I’ve been MIA for a little bit.  So much going on this past month it’s been hard to find the time to sit down and knock out another post!  Lame I know, I’ll be better…promise!

So Brian hit me up asking for some advice on how to best promote his band’s upcoming EP release.  Sounds like they’re totally independent so I’ll assume the marketing budget is tight.

Brian, first you have to answer the question: who is my audience?  Once that’s answered, then: where do I find them?  Bad marketing is taking your band and just throwing it out there…you need to pin point who you believe will most likely enjoy your type of music…get it to them…then if it’s good, hope they help you spread the word.  Once you’ve identified your audience, I suggest hiring a publicists to help build your story.  Find someone who works both online and print press.  Tell them what type of publications you want to hit, what webzines make sense, and who you think will most likely react and embrace your songs.  Be realistic in this attempt.  You’re one of many many bands and it takes a very long time for people to accept your debut effort.  A lot of the times press will react with, “cool EP…maybe we’ll cover them when they release a full length.”  So be prepared.

I think it’s also worth the few hundred bucks to create promo goods like free stickers and posters.  Make sure every venue you’re performing at has posters in advance…you want people to discover you..so make sure the band name is out there in your scene.  Give stickers away at shows and to friends.  It’s simple, not going to make you a rock star, but it’s a reminder of your band.  Further, and I’ve said this before, give your music away.  I’m not saying the full EP..but at least a song.  I’m working with this company now that provides a digital experience in our physical world.  I’ve purchased stickers and buttons from them, both bundle a digital song with the product.  SO, instead of just selling a fan a button, they get the button with a digital code on the back instructing them to go to “xxxx.com”, hit redeem, enter the code, and there’s your free song!  It’s very cool.  So essentially, you’re selling digital downloads from your merch booth.  Yeah the song is “FREE”, well, actually your just combining the sale price into your button.  More on this later…

You may also want to consider a new media marketing company to help with your viral awareness, online press and blogs, and overall media strategy….but honestly, this can cost a lot of money, most of which you wont make back on an EP.  Just see to it that your online experience is fully executed…meaning you must be sure you have a profile on every major network site, each is constantly updated, provide an abundance of content like videos (live and produced), pictures, songs, artwork, merch, etc, and utilize free tools like mailing lists and mobile texting.  I don’t recommend over doing it, though.  I hate visiting pages with more widgets than fans…

Remember to build locally, expand regionaly, grow nationally.  It take a very long time…so get ready for the long haul!
Ben

Is it worth touring if you don’t have music to sell?

You’re out there…on the grind!  Trying to get shows, building a name, saving money to record, doing everything you can to accomplish your goals.  You’re musicians…you want to write and share your music.  Sell it to fans for them to go home and enjoy what you do.  So is it worth driving 2 to 5 hours away to play shows if you don’t have any music for potential new fans to walk out the door with?!  This is the question Eric recently asked me.

Here’s a little more info, Eric has 1 song recorded and available as a free download on myspace, they’re working on their EP, playing locally when they can, and have been offered a few gigs 2 to 5 hours away.  He’s wondering if they should push touring before music?  How important is a CD at the merch booth?

Eric…ABSOLUTELY!!  Here’s a rule…and please, everyone…take this to heart.  If you are not yet at a professional level where YOU are headlining and selling tickets…you do not say no to a live performance.  Why?  Because you never know if there will be another.  And when you say no, I guarantee another band a little more hungry is happy to say yes.  You need the impressions, the fans, the relationships with the promoters and venues…you need to play.  2 to 5 hours is reasonable enough…if you said 10…maybe, if it’s the right show and people will be there…but 2 to 5 is your backyard.

But here’s the real reason why….

Your long term success is NOT dependent on albums sold…it’s dependent on TICKETS sold.  You are not a career musician until you can sell enough tickets to pay your bills.  One of the greatest examples is Social Distortion.  Never had that unbelievable “commercial hit”, multimillion selling album…but fricken 30 YEARS LATER…Mike Ness and the boys are selling out 10 nights in a row at the OC House of Blues then driving 50 miles north and selling out another 10 nights in a row at Sunset House of Blues and still touring the WORLD..it’s amazing.  How many of you even know who Social D is?  Please tell me you all do.

Eric, you need fans…and chances are, if you’re at a level where you don’t have an EP yet..you must take advantage of opportunities that place you and your songs in front of an audience.  If they like you enough, they’ll go online and download the song…chances are they’d steal it anyways.  If I were managing you, I’d say pack it up, play the show, and before you go…burn your 1 song onto 50 CDs and hand them out free to every person who signs up on your e-mail list (see below!).  I know you value music, the disc, it’s artwork…but you’re a musician, not a fan…it’s a different experience and perspective.  Soon, music will all be digital and bundled for free with every piece of merch purchased.  I just ordered stickers for one of my bands that has a code on the back for 2 free downloadable songs.  We’ve been handing those out at every show…and guess what..the shows are getting bigger!  That same band I had drive from San Diego, CA all the way to Austin, TX to play SXSW 3 months before we had EPs in hand..so we burned 3 songs on some CDs, slapped a homemade cover on there, and handed them out for free.  Next week our myspace plays, friends, and e-mail opt-ins went up.  Share your music, fans will appreciate it, follow you, then support you by purchasing the album once you have it available.

So go…make friends!

Great question, man…I appreciate it and hope it helps.
Ben

How do we increase our draw?!

The goal is to play live, right?  Share your songs with others to enjoy…So you start a band, you play in someone’s basement or backyard, you convince a local club to throw you on a show, your 20 friends come see, the club is happy and ask you back…your 20 friends come see you again…then again, again…so how do you increase your draw beyond your friends?  How do you get to the place where you DON’T recognize ever face in the crowd?!

Topic – How does my band increase our draw at live shows?
Some dude named “boogieman” hit me up asking.  He said their live show is tight, they perform well, but wants to know how to increase their fan base and pack the house.

Advice:
Boogieman, if you’ve been reading my blog you’ve most likely picked up a couple ideas so far..at least I hope you have.  My goal with these posts is to get Indie bands to look at their band as a business and realize everything you do, every action taken, is connected.  The goal is to create momentum and once you start down that path you’ll see it becomes self generating, in other word, you’ll set out to accomplish one particular goal and find a couple others were met as a consequence of your actions.

Something I haven’t said yet which needs to be said is this…you MUST have great songs and a great live performance.  Everyone thinks they’re great.  I have yet to meet a band that will admit they suck!  I thought I was great.  I played guitar and wrote the songs in my band…we were incredible..then I finally woke up, looked around, and said…yeah…those guys write much better music than I…I think I’ll manage them rather than compete with them!  You need incredible songs.  People will not come, labels will not care, venues will not book you, bands will not take you out, and fan bases will not grow if you are doing this for any reason other than the pure and absolute love of music.  Are you good or great at what you do?  See, with the advancements of technology…anyone can record an album…but just because you can, doesn’t mean you should, and just because you did, doesn’t mean everyone needs to care.  Recording an album is not entitlement.  Just a little rant…I’ll get back on topic!

So you have great songs, a great live show…how do you increase the draw?

Nothing sells better than word of mouth.  You need to get everyone talking about you, your music, your performance, and when the next show is.  Here are some steps to help:

1. Posting – Make sure you book the show well enough in advance to market and promote the event.  Upon confirmation of the show, make sure you post it everywhere you can.  Get all your friends and existing fans to post it everywhere they can.  Send bulletins, newsletters, and blogs out about it.  Make sure the venue has it posted on their site as well as the bands you’re performing with.
2. Promo – Something bands don’t do enough of is promoting the show like an event.  You gotta make it a big deal..otherwise, why do people care?!  Our time is becoming more and more limited…why am I going to dedicate 3 hours of my life to watch you perform?  You must create the impressions necessary for people to react.  Make flyers and posters.  Put them EVERYWHERE!  Hand them out at the venue, drop them off at local stores, hand them out at competing venues, make sure the club has your posters up with the shows info on it…get you friends to put posters up anywhere they can.  Make everyone aware.
3. Give Your Music Out – If you’re just starting off…there’s nothing wrong with giving your music away.  I highly encourage you to burn a CD with 2 of your songs, a label with your band name, song titles, and your website stuck to it, throw the flyer inside, and hand those out.  People will drop a flyer in a second…but most people will give a free CD a chance during the car ride home.  If your songs are good enough..they just might come check you out live.
4. Steal ‘em! – Do your best to get on shows with like-styled bands.  Make sure you check those bands out before your show.  What are their strengths and weaknesses?  What do their fans react to?  Do your homework…then show up and show them up!  Put on a better performance!  Do everything you can to steal their fans…make them walk away saying, “Wow..wasn’t expecting that!”.  Know and play to your audience.  Every band seems to think that every song they’ve ever written should be played live.  Wrong.  If you’re opening up for someone…please, please, please DO NOT play for more than 30 mins and do not throw in a slow “jam” half way through the set.  It kills the momentum.  You always need to leave the audience wanting more.  Short, powerful, no filler sets are the best.  Save the power ballad for when you’re headlining!
5. Hustle the Event – Make sure your singer IMMEDIATELY runs to the merch booth after your performance.  That’s your #1 opportunity to retain any interest.  If your singer is too cool or needs to let his “throat rest”…good luck, you might want to start looking for a new one now.  Hit the merch booth and talk to EVERYONE.  They paid to see you..respect that.  Get everyone’s email address you can.  An email addy is worth more than selling a t-shirt..trust me.  Once the band’s finished breaking down…they need to hit merch and let the singer rest up..take shift thereafter until the last person walks out the door.  Be as cool as possible with the venue workers…and when you settle up with the promoter make sure you let him know how successful the event was for your band…they want to hear positive things…and tell him you’ll reach out tomorrow about possibly getting another show on the books.  Get that show and repeat steps 1-5.

You got to make it fun, an event, it’s MUSIC!  Make sure you hop online the next day telling everyone what a great show it was, how much you appreciate everyone coming out, note anything extraordinary that happened…make the people who didn’t go wish they did…they will next time..and your draw will grow.

Let me know how the next show goes!
Ben